Trump Wants To Put Detroit’s Biggest Trucks On Europe’s Skinniest Streets

• Japan and Europe prefer smaller, fuel-efficient cars over large U.S. pickups and SUVs.
• Even with lower tariffs, Detroit’s Big Three market share abroad remains tiny.
• Cultural preferences and infrastructure, not trade barriers, are the main hurdles.

American-made cars may be iconic at home, but their appeal overseas is far more complicated. President Donald Trump has long accused Japan and Europe of shutting out U.S.-made vehicles. He points to models like the Ford F-150 as potential hits overseas if only trade barriers weren’t in place. In reality, the problem isn’t really tariffs, it’s taste, size, and practicality.

More: Detroit’s Big 3 Furious After Trump’s Trade Deal With Japan

From Tokyo to London, consumers overwhelmingly choose smaller, more fuel efficient cars like the Toyota Corolla, Volkswagen Golf, and Renault Clio. Detroit’s bread and butter, big pickups, SUVs, and even muscle cars are rare in those nations. It’s not because buyers don’t think they’re cool either; it’s because they just don’t make much sense. We’ll circle back to that, though.

Sales Numbers Paint The Picture

Automakers sold 3.7 million cars in Japan last year. Just 570 of them were Chevrolets. 420 were Cadillacs. 120 were Dodges. Ford hasn’t sold a car there in almost a decade. Despite that, President Trump reportedly told CNBC on Tuesday that “They’re taking our cars. They’re taking the very beautiful Ford F-150, which does very well. And I’m sure we’ll` do very well there, and other things that do very well here will also do well there.”

Those comments come after he promised, but has not yet enacted, a tariff cut on Japan from the current 27.5 percent to 15 percent. Even if that goes down, it doesn’t mean anything will change since roads are narrow, the parking lots are tight, and the fuel is prohibitively expensive.

Europe Faces The Same Mismatch

Guess what? The problem is very similar in Europe. “We don’t buy Ford F-150s, that’s not what our roads are scaled for, it’s not what our customers want,” Andy Palmer, former CEO of Aston Martin, told Reuters. Ford’s regional sales there have fallen from 1.26 million in 2005 to just 426,000 in 2024. What else happened in that time? The brand pivoted away from cars and toward SUVs and trucks. Notably, there are some outliers.

Jeep is the most popular U.S. brand in Japan and has been for over a decade. Notably, it offers right-hand drive vehicles there. In addition, specialty dealers do have a small customer base of enthusiasts who want classic American cars and modern ones too. Even then, though, dealers recognize the challenge their own customers accept.

“American cars are designed for wide roads and freeway driving, so handling them on narrow Japanese streets can be tricky. It takes a bit of technique,” said Yumihito Yasue, president of Johnan Jeep Petit in Tokyo.

Infrastructure Still Sets The Limits

At this point, it’ll be really interesting to see how much, if at all, the market really changes now that Trump feels like he’s achieved a deal to get big American vehicles into more markets. It’s not as if those places are about to change their infrastructure so perhaps American brands will need to go back to making smaller cars. 

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