Beginning with your comments about Peugeot in the UK:
If in fact you were in the UK (I returned from London just two weeks
ago and will put a small picture gallery of London (with Peugeot!)
online) and really spoke with anybody (perhaps a fellow American?), you
of course discovered that the Peugeot brand is one of the most
appreciated, wanted and valued in the United Kingdom. Exactly opposite
of what you wrote in your missive. Your comparisons of Peugeot with
Pontiac and the statement that Peugeot cars lose their value in the UK
as fast as in the US and are as unpopular in the UK they are in the US
is ludicrous. Although I realize that the statement’s chief purpose was
to generate controversy of some sort, it remains untrue and absurd
nevertheless. You don’t see many Pontiacs, Cadillacs, Chevrolets, Dodges
in the UK (in fact I saw none on any of my trips). You don’t see many
Nissans or Toyotas (both are manufactured in the EC and are not covered
by quotas or outside tariffs, competing on an equal position with
Peugeot), you see a lot of Peugeot, Peugeot has the fourth place in the
UK market, after Ford Europe, Vauxhall and Rover (three domestically
manufactured brands), being the most popular imported brand and selling
more than UK made Nissans . In 1995 and 1996 the British public voted
Peugeot 406 to be the most reliable, most comfortable and "the best"
family vehicle (also visit the great What Car? Magazine for a somewhat
critical review of 406 at:
http://www.virtual-showroom.co.uk/articles/peugeot/406/index.html). The
Evening Standard's somewhat funny automotive survey (see a review at:
http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/town/square/de95/07000006.htm ) that was
designed to determine how prestigeous is Volvo’s image in the UK market,
states that Peugeot won "hands down" in the UK.
Although Peugeot loses its value faster than does Rolls-Royce, it
depreciates less or comparably to all other quality mass market cars.
Visit Find-it used British car sales directory and its index in the Web.
Germany is the largest foreign market for Peugeot vehicles. In each
class Peugeot vehicles cost more or are comparable to domestic German
vehicles. As they are in Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria,
Switzerland. To claim that the German consumer or Austrian consumers are
less quality-conscious than say a Texan is ridiculous.
Besides, being not cheap vehicles, Peugeot exports from 65 to 70% of all
its output, not counting vehicles manufactured for domestic sales in
the United Kingdom, Poland, Argentina, Spain, Uruguay, Turkey, Chile,
Kenya as well as now China, Malaysia and India. This is an
exceptionally high margin of export sales (seven out of three cars,
again not counting locally made cars), incomparable to the low margins
of the US domestic manufacturers. Only 19% of the Peugeot (export) sales
are in the markets that considered "Third World."
While your attitude is not exceptional (perhaps, the norm for certain
characters in the US. I met a few before), you really should not try to
claim that your beliefs (?) override those of other people or worse the
plain facts. The fact that well more than millions of people worldwide,
mainly in the most advanced nations, make intelligent decision
(sometimes year after year) to choose Peugeot over all other car makes
does not make them look stupid but does you just the opposite.
If you don’t see anything special in something that other (again
millions of) people do outside USA and Canada, or see Dodge and Pontiac
as the paragons of automotive engineering, quality and flair, then
that’s OK. To try forcing an opinion onto others, using untrue claims or
phoney anecdotal evidence based on your own prejudice against the car
(the country?) isn’t just right.
About Saudi Arabia. Peugeot is an extremely popular vehicle in the
majority of Middle Eastern countries. Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are
relative exception (not just for Peugeot but for many other car brands)
because these are perhaps only cars outside of the United States where
large American-made cars and certain Japanese cars are very popular.
Both dictatorships, not necessarily very environmentally conscious, have
the lowest gasoline prices in the known world; they also have "special"
relationship with the United States (somewhat racket, mafia-like with
money and goods, oil, exchanged for protection of the regime) which
includes preferential treatment of US contractors, massive government
contracts for procurement of US military hardware and commercial
vehicles (including cars), specially low duties for US products and
cultural preference to drive a big American car or a Toyota Landcruiser.
A very similar situation was in Iraq (till the Gulf War, when the
United States was cuddling Saddam Hussein). A good friend of mine worked
for a US company in Iraq for five years, the gas was cheaper than
bottled water and everybody wanted a huge American car (no matter that
it will breaks tomorrow because they’ll buy another one). However, it
does not mean that Peugeot were or are unpopular. By your description of
Peugeot cars, I doubt you would recognize one if you saw it on the road.
As I already wrote in an earlier posting, there is (or perhaps was) a
US based newsgroup which is called alt.auto.peugeot.sucks or something
similar. You will certainly gain a more receptive audience among
subscribers of that newsgroup that you would perhaps find here. Of
course, if your principal intent is to irritate other people and to
rehearse all over again how bad Peugeot is (in your opinion) then of
course you are in the right newsgroup. Continue and enjoy.
I am afraid that there are no Dodge admirers’, Cadillac 468 lovers' or
Ford Pinto fans’ news groups around (naturally), but you sure can start
one.
Sincerely,
Eugene Soukharnikov