In New York's 5th Avenue, "a Mercedes in front of each house", in return, there are practically no Chevrolets in Germany - laments Donald Trump. For the coming US president, this finding is a sign that there is an imbalance in German-American trade. Germany is "very unfair to the US", "there is no reciprocity," said Trump. Germany's automobile builders were too strong in America, the American ones too weak in Germany and Europe.

The future US president wants to change that. Where he leaves open, how. High import duties also for cars of German manufacturers from the low-wage country Mexico to the USA could make the business of the Germans more difficult. However, US car manufacturers are not becoming more successful in Europe. To do so, they would have to do what SPD chief and economic minister Sigmar Gabriel of the industry in the United States has guessed: simply build decent cars. Then they buy the Germans as well.

Trumps comparison of Mercedes and Chevrolet is already dared in itself. The fact that there are enough people in the 5th Avenue, which expensive cars like Mercedes can afford, may be. But Trump is a false picture that the US is flooded with German cars. In fact, the market share of German car owners in the United States is just seven percent - and this is true for Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Volkswagen and Porsche. And the market share has shrunk even for three years. The Germans are playing in a niche that Trump would not be interested in.

US brands weak and with too much bling-bling

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Correct is his finding that Chevrolet plays no role in Germany. But here, too, Trump makes a false impression. Namely, the US builders in Germany and Europe are completely unsuccessful. That's what they really are when they compete with their US brands. No one wants to buy a man. The quality is simply not, they consume too much fuel, and the design is not according to the taste of the Germans. Too clumsy, too chunky, too much bling-bling.

For this reason, General Motors (GM) never dared to go to Germany with brands like GMC, Oldsmobile, Pontiac or Saturn. Or Chrysler with the Dodge brand. Or Ford with its noble brand Lincoln. They would all be chanceless. Chrysler has tried it with its master brand, 2015 were admissible from this here 225 pieces. With a total market of 3.2 million new cars sold. GM's Corvette does not appear in the statistics at all, although it would be again, Chevrolet, also a GM brand, was still allowed 57 times. These are residual items.

The reason for the Chevrolet debacle could Trump in the USA. In Detroit, Jefferson Avenue, Renaissance Center. There, GM CEO Mary Barra has her office. She decided with her top executives in 2014 to take Chevrolet from the market in Europe. "No more crappy cars" (never more cars ...), Barra had promised the year before.