EU cave in on vehicle trade rules will cost European lives as US pick-up trucks flood into Europe
EU cave in on vehicle trade rules will cost European lives as US…
Yeah, no thanks.
lol and that’s one of the smaller truck models you’ll see in the states 🫠
Good luck dealing with the shitheads who buy these. They'll whine and cry about not having space, x, y, z... I am surprised none of the EU brands have a popular small truck. Closest thing appeared to be Ford Rangers.
Yep a real full size truck you could probably take that car and put it in it its bed. With room to spare.
Yes, no tanks.
Why have they caved? These vehicles aren’t appropriate here.
As someone from the US, they're mostly not appropriate here either. They rarely get used for anything except driving to/from work. They are more like massive uneconomical vans with four luxury seats rather than work trucks (again, when they nearly always have a driver and no passengers).
That being said, my fiancé lives in the Philippines (Specifically in Manila, the most densely populated city on the planet), and every time I visit it's clear the same stupid oversized trucks are everywhere and I doubt anywhere in the EU will be different.
Just like requiring seatbelts to be a rule, you need to put rules in place so the idiots don't destroy everything, that's pretty much advanced modern society.
They probably figured that they can sell trucks but nobody is obligated to buy them. The taxes are on weight and prices for fuel are not compatible with gas guzzlers. The really heavy ones need a different driving license. Also in places the tax exemption for cargo didn't work anymore.
Man I sure do love when people with money can pay to inconvenience everyone else
EU works for lobbies. Not Europeans.
Examples?
These vehicles are not really made for European infrastructure. Especially in older Cities or towns they are sometimes wider than the road itself. I guess it would be fine if people would have to have a C-Class license.
But have you considered bulldozing all the historic architecture to accommodate American manufacturers' god given right to sell product?
Knowing what lurks underneath old cities the demand for archeologist would absolutely skyrocket.
Great job creation prospects.
And then we get to queue in cars to get coffee. So convenient.
It's just wins all around
RAM pick ups are not type-approved to be sold on the EU market, but are imported under IVA, ostensibly to be sold on a one-off or ‘individual’ basis. Already, the IVA rule, intended for niche uses, is being roundly abused by German and Dutch Type Approval entities, which approve 69% and 30% of RAMs respectively, said T&E. Imports of three other pick-up trucks – the Ford F-150, the Chevrolet Silverado and the GMC Sierra 1500 – have skyrocketed from 157 in 2019 to approx 1,700 in 2024 [1].
The EU Commission’s proposals to close the IVA loophole tabled in early July are now at risk from an EU-US trade pact which states that the EU and US “intend to accept and provide mutual recognition to each other’s standards” for cars.
And to compete our domestic car industries will probably start making similar models :/
As these vehicles aren't officially sold in EU by their brands, they don't enter the pollution calculation of their average fleet. I doubt that they will produce even more similar models adapted to and for the EU market.
Solicit your vehicle taxing authorities to raise taxes on these huge vehicles so it's cost prohibitive.
Hopefully insurance will be prohibitively expensive as well where there so dangerous.
In the netherlands road tax is paid depending on the weight of the vehicle (and some more factors). Also, a standard drivers license B is for cars with maximum weight 3500kg (unladen weight plus payload).
what in the flying fuck
Why would any auto manufacturer make cars under European safety standards any more if this goes through?
@Sunshine make them undrivable.
We are already in a situation where they have to stop in the village centers to let people move out of the way for the extra wide load. I do not move. I don't think anyone should
In Europe those over the top insane-looking american "trucks" need heavy goods vehicle license, plus even if it's light enough for the regular license, it's still classified as a cargo vehicle which is subject for more tax (either yearly tax or sometimes even road usage tax). People can already buy new "trucks" (even Volkswagen makes one) and import old ones from the US for a long time, but extra tax is not something most want to pay.
The 'empty' weight of a Ford F-350 is a bit above 3 tons, so in theory, one could register those with a maximum total mass of 3499 kg and drive them with a regular 'car' class B drivers licence.
The smaller F-150 is totally in the range of what can be driven with a class B drivers licence without tricks.
Up to member states means they probably won't do it, since it's a matter of national politics and popularity...
So as I understand this - which seems to be totally at odds with everyone else commenting - this will actually make it harder for people to drive these things on the road in the EU. Currently you can import those things without them being subject to EU categorisation and safety requirements if it's a one off (to quote Not Stanley, "I ain't no serial killer! I killed a bunch of people but they were all one-offs!") but now these will be categorised and controlled the same as EU vehicles instead, and subject to the same standards for safety, emissions, licensing etc. It's worth keeping in mind that even in the US these aren't categorised as cars, so why would they be in the EU? So someone with a car license (normally limited to 3.5T GLW) couldn't drive one, even if they pinky-swore that they wouldn't fully load it as is the case at the moment.
The EU has different licenses for cars and trucks? Cool!
I've always found it weird that a standard license here lets you drive anything from a teeny tiny SmartCar to an F350 pulling a massive palace-in-wheels, or a near bus-sized motorhome (provided it doesn't have air brakes and is under 4600kg).
The real money is gonna be made from exporting truck nuts.
I cannot think of anything else the EU could have done to damage it's own brand image as this has. It's clear the EU has it's own oligarch problem.
Ibrahimovich.jpg:
I give you defense protection
In return, you give me your lives to American pickup trucks.
This is going to be unpopular opinion, but the EU caving in so quickly to one-sided trade deal, is in return for American protection and arms contracts. With Cheetos in chief in charge, this is the Munich Agreement of our time to bide time, while European arms production gears up. Let's face it, the EU is too weak and reliant to achieve strategic autonomy at the moment, if ever. Several EU members don't even want to increase military spending, because they very well know that this will take away precious funding away from coveted welfare investment, and that will be unpopular for electorates.
Let’s face it, the EU is too weak and reliant to achieve strategic autonomy at the moment.
Many people say this but it doesn't really made sense to me, if Russia can't even win against Ukraine how would they ever fight against the EU, our army is both larger and much better equipped then Ukraine.
And it doesn't look like there is a ceasfire going to be soon so Ukraine will keep fighting which means Russia doesn't even have the troops outside Ukraine to invade the EU, and if they somehow did then we would reach Moscow by next month.
(...) if Russia can't even win against Ukraine how would they ever fight against the EU, our army is both larger and much better equipped then Ukraine.
The problem is, the EU isn't united nearly enough to fight a war together. If, for instance, Russia attacks, it'll be mostly Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia defending. Maybe Romania too, and maybe with some support from the rest of the EU. As it stands right now, the EU is divided on many issues, with some countries (notably Hungary) intentionally sabotaging it from the inside.
Even if - and that's a big if - all or at least most of EU member states can come to agreement and cooperate in a conflict, our militaries aren't very well prepared to work together. This would require years of cross-border military drills between all of the member states. Especially considering the fact that the vast majority of all EU soldiers have never seen any real combat. Russia may be losing a lot of soldiers in Ukraine. But those who survive become extremely valuable assets for the military, since real world combat experience is infinitely more useful than textbooks or casual training exercises.
if Russia can't even win against Ukraine how would they ever fight against the EU, our army is both larger and much better equipped then Ukraine
Yes, if Russia invades EU then all gloves are off. But in the more immediate and near term this is about military production, which Russia is in full production capacity while the West as a whole is kind of just tip toeing. The former is already outproducing the latter in artillery munitions by a wide margin. The EU produces even less than the US in military. Even though the EU became the biggest aid sponsor of Ukraine, much of that aid is non-lethal forms like finances, food and logistics. The US still provide the biggest military help to Ukraine.
Even if there is a war between EU and Russia, fact of the matter is that Russia already has the initial military production advantage over the EU, because the EU downsized and underestimated Russia's plan of aggression for years.
I think what the EU-US trade deal was about is outsourcing the military production to US, while the EU ramps up their own. After all, the key message from that deal is that the EU will invest in US military production.
Why would anyone in the EU buy them? They are expensive, maintanance nightmare and in most cities to big to drive comfortably. The only reason I can think of is that you need to compensate for a small dick.
What Europe should do, is ban those anti-social SUVs altogether. And tax the ones already there to a high amount. Say 80%. But offer an incentive to lower that tax to 40%, if they switch to scooters, ebikes, and bikes, and let the car be scrapped and its metals reused for those purposes. They then can get a scooter/ebike or whatever for free, together with 10+ years of warranty.
This will offer a lot more job availability in Europe. That's only better for the former owners of those roadkillers.
RAM < Dodge < Stellantis NV
It’s not even a US company lobbying for this.
It'll be especially dangerous since they're gonna have slashed tires so often.
I can't wait to see one get stuck trying to fit past my house. I can assure you my brick wall is cheaper to stack back up than your bodywork is to replace.
A lentil placed under the cap is a more efficient method of disarmament.
Depends on the end goal. Those 18" tires on most trucks aren't cheap, especially if you have to swap one out every few months
Sorry, what? A lentil like the bean? How does that ruin a tire?
we can only hope
Maybe burning the trucks will help with the tyre thing? It's a long shot but I think it should be tried...