The View From Greece
Cars.com’s Brian Neale (above) vacationed in Europe recently, and he took some notes on the automotive scene in Greece and Amsterdam:
Given that gas is 1.20 euros per liter (about $6 a gallon), I wasn’t surprised there were virtually no big passenger vehicles. The whole time we were there, the biggest “personal” car I saw was a Tahoe with a German EU plate.
Opel seemed to be the dominant make, but Kia, Daewoo, Mercedes, Fiat, Smart, VW, Nissan, Seat (I’d never heard of it, but there were some cool ones) and Citroen were well-represented. We also saw quite a few Fords, especially the cute little Ka, and a handful of Chevys that appeared to be a version of the Aveo. The well-to-do seemed to prefer Saabs, Mercedes and Alfa Romeos.
Scooters and motorcycles were everywhere, with many more and cooler models than are available here. I was in heaven on that front.
There were even a few old Ladas on the road. The locals, who call them “skatouli” (literally, “small piece of crap”), informed me that only Turks and Albanians drive those things.
Some additional observations:
- Virtually all taxis in Athens were Mercedes. No model badging, but they looked to be essentially C-Classes.
- In Amsterdam, especially, LOTS of Smart ForTwos. I guess it’s a good choice when you don’t need to go far, there’s no place to park and the biggest thing you have to worry about getting hit by is a bicycle.
- I’m positive I saw a few diesel-powered Toyota Camry taxis in Athens, though I have been told that this is impossible by a few Americans.
- Otherwise, not too many Toyotas — or Hondas, for that matter.
- I saw a few Mercedes A-Class cars. I had never seen one before; they look kind of like a Honda Fit.
- Fiat is selling boatloads of something called the Punto. That and pretty much every other Fiat model embodied everything I hate about econobox cars. Most of the other automakers are doing a much better job making stuff that appealed to me, anyway. I poked around on the Fiat sites, and at least I can say the ’07s are better looking than the Fiats from just a couple years back.
- Lots of new Citroens in Greece, and a fair number of classic Citroens parked in the nice neighborhoods around Amsterdam.
- My favorite (new, affordable) Citroen model I saw. Love the glass roof: C3 Pluriel
- Pretty much all “SUVs” look like this Berlingo Enterprise
- I fell in love with the new Opel GT. After all these years, it still kinda looks like a mini-Batmobile.
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I take it there weren't many (if any) pick-up trucks in Greece?
"I’m positive I saw a few diesel-powered Toyota Camry taxis in Athens, though I have been told that this is impossible by a few Americans."
Which one is impossible? That the Toyota was a taxi or it was a diesel Camry? Even in Germany I've seen the 'Avensis' (euro toyota sedan) as a taxi and a couple weeks ago I saw the generation before last Camry labeled with 2.2 diesel. But yeah overall Japanese cars are pretty rare in Europe.
no toyota or honda in europe, its a beautiful sight
"There were even a few old Ladas on the road. The locals, who call them “skatouli” (literally, “small piece of crap”), informed me that only Turks and Albanians drive those things."
LOL
I lust after the Alfa's when in Europe and Citroen & Peugeot are looking fine in their evolution over the years. I think it was the president of Alfa who said it's suicide to sell your product in America. I guess so when you've got the competition of Honda and Toyota. The import taxes must be outrageous not to see Japan presence there.
Any good automotive journalist would know the SEAT is a subsidiary of the VW group, based in Spain. Skoda is another of VW brands, but based in the Czech Republic. Come on guys, read Car every now and again and see what the motoring world outside of car-based SUVs is like. Oh, and Toyota offers a Diesel engine in the European market- otherwise it couldn't compete! When can I get into the lauded field of auto journalism?
Greek best sellers Jan-May 2007
1. Opel Corsa 4.537
2. Volkswagen Golf 4.445
3. Toyota Yaris 4.342
4. Ford Focus 4.255
5. Opel Astra 4.096
6. Toyota Corolla 2.875
7. Skoda Octavia 2.844
8. Suzuki Swift 2.821
9. Volkswagen Polo 2.705
10. Peugeot 207 2.664
11. Fiat Panda 2.639
12. Ford Fiesta 2.611
13. Hyundai Getz 2.535
14. Citroen C4 2.473
15. Hyundai Accent 2.137
16. Seat Ibiza 2.040
17. Toyota RAV4 1979
18. Hyundai Atos 1.935
19. Chevrolet Matiz 1.904
20. Suzuki Gr. Vitara 1.887
21. Nissan Micra 1.879
22. Daihatsu Terios 1.807
23. Mitsubishi Colt 1.737
24. KIA Picanto 1.734
25. Volkswagen Passat 1.575
26. Peugeot 107 1.556
27. Toyota Auris 1.536
28. BMW 3 Series 1.522
29. Seat Leon 1.455
30. Peugeot 307 1.442
Source: http://www.4troxoi.gr/
Most taxis in Athens seem to be Skoda Octavia, Toyota Avensis and Mercedes E Class.
I guess to be an auto journalist you need to know very little about cars and the global auto industry. Or how to use the web for that matter...
Sad.
Very few pickups in Greece, other than work vehicles. Out in the country, I did see a few old rusty Datsuns and the like. Man, those things really struggle in the mountains.
I also saw two "pickups" that had been constructed with roto-tiller engines mounted to a home-made steel frame with a lumber bed on the back. Both were three-wheelers, so I'm not quite sure whether to classify them as trucks or trikes. But they were interesting, that's for sure.
For the record, I’m not an auto journalist. I’m the user-experience guy. I assure you the real journalists here know what a SEAT is.
The post obviously wasn't a "news" bit, but rather the observations of an American tourist?
But thanks, flamers and contributors, for sharing the heat. It's good for me to feel what the KT team goes through every day. Now I know why DaveT has skin like a Shar-Pei.
You do realize that the Opel GT is the same as the Pontiac Solstice and the Saturn Sky, right? Being that GM owns Opel, the Sky/Solstice is literally the same car, with some minor differences I'm sure.
Like the rest of the new Saturns, the Opel GT appears to be nearly identical to the Saturn Sky, which I prefer to the Pontiac Solstice (though both look great).