>One of the biggest selling point for German cars is that they are more efficient than the Americans this event has broken that public perception and until they

>One of the biggest selling point for German cars is that they are more efficient than the Americans this event has broken that public perception and until they fix it they will struggle to compete with cheaper American cars. That only holds for cheaper economy cars, of which japan currently has the consumer perception edge with. The German car industry's edge is with conspicuous consumption type cars, such as luxury and GT cruisers; and the customer base for those types of cars doesn't car about efficiency as much as prestige and sportiness. I'd go as far to say the customer base for the M3 or equivalent sport cars is the type to actively subvert the emissions equipment with an ECU flash or test pipe swap for the performance boost.