472
EU cave in on vehicle trade rules will cost European lives as US pick-up trucks flood into Europe
(www.transportenvironment.org)
Yeah, no thanks.
this post was submitted on 23 Aug 2025
472 points (98.2% liked)
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lol and thatโs one of the smaller truck models youโll see in the states ๐ซ
Good luck dealing with the shitheads who buy these. They'll whine and cry about not having space, x, y, z... I am surprised none of the EU brands have a popular small truck. Closest thing appeared to be Ford Rangers.
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(1 replies)
Yep a real full size truck you could probably take that car and put it in it its bed. With room to spare.
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(1 replies)
Why have they caved? These vehicles arenโt appropriate here.
As someone from the US, they're mostly not appropriate here either. They rarely get used for anything except driving to/from work. They are more like massive uneconomical vans with four luxury seats rather than work trucks (again, when they nearly always have a driver and no passengers).
That being said, my fiancรฉ lives in the Philippines (Specifically in Manila, the most densely populated city on the planet), and every time I visit it's clear the same stupid oversized trucks are everywhere and I doubt anywhere in the EU will be different.
Just like requiring seatbelts to be a rule, you need to put rules in place so the idiots don't destroy everything, that's pretty much advanced modern society.
Yeah there are a fuckton of "real men" in Europe, influenced by the firehose of toxic culture coming from the US. I agree 100%, governments need to prevent selfish idiots from endangering others with their bad choices.
I agree. Rangers and Amaroks and a few others are everywhere. But CTs are an especially stupid step up.
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(1 replies)
They probably figured that they can sell trucks but nobody is obligated to buy them. The taxes are on weight and prices for fuel are not compatible with gas guzzlers. The really heavy ones need a different driving license. Also in places the tax exemption for cargo didn't work anymore.
Man I sure do love when people with money can pay to inconvenience everyone else
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(4 replies)
It'll be especially dangerous since they're gonna have slashed tires so often.
I can't wait to see one get stuck trying to fit past my house. I can assure you my brick wall is cheaper to stack back up than your bodywork is to replace.
we can only hope
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(13 replies)
These vehicles are not really made for European infrastructure. Especially in older Cities or towns they are sometimes wider than the road itself. I guess it would be fine if people would have to have a C-Class license.
But have you considered bulldozing all the historic architecture to accommodate American manufacturers' god given right to sell product?
Knowing what lurks underneath old cities the demand for archeologist would absolutely skyrocket.
Great job creation prospects.
And then we get to queue in cars to get coffee. So convenient.
It's just wins all around
RAM pick ups are not type-approved to be sold on the EU market, but are imported under IVA, ostensibly to be sold on a one-off or โindividualโ basis. Already, the IVA rule, intended for niche uses, is being roundly abused by German and Dutch Type Approval entities, which approve 69% and 30% of RAMs respectively, said T&E. Imports of three other pick-up trucks โ the Ford F-150, the Chevrolet Silverado and the GMC Sierra 1500 โ have skyrocketed from 157 in 2019 to approx 1,700 in 2024 [1].
The EU Commissionโs proposals to close the IVA loophole tabled in early July are now at risk from an EU-US trade pact which states that the EU and US โintend to accept and provide mutual recognition to each otherโs standardsโ for cars.
And to compete our domestic car industries will probably start making similar models :/
As these vehicles aren't officially sold in EU by their brands, they don't enter the pollution calculation of their average fleet. I doubt that they will produce even more similar models adapted to and for the EU market.
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(5 replies)
Solicit your vehicle taxing authorities to raise taxes on these huge vehicles so it's cost prohibitive.
Hopefully insurance will be prohibitively expensive as well where there so dangerous.
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Why would any auto manufacturer make cars under European safety standards any more if this goes through?
Why would anyone in the EU buy them? They are expensive, maintanance nightmare and in most cities to big to drive comfortably. The only reason I can think of is that you need to compensate for a small dick.
Do they really think US style trucks will sell well in Europe?
Yes I do. Selfishness is not an American only trait.
Too bad. I wish the US had EU and JP sized cars
I mean, selfishness is one thing, but these things literally won't fit in most parking spaces and even a number of garage spaces.
You can technically buy a bus, too, but most people don't think it's practical.
The race to size already happened in Europe once, when 4x4s started getting marketed to scared housewives under the pretense that they were safer, if that sounds familiar. I know a few people who were tempted.
Then they looked into it and got over it pretty quickly.
I'm sure you'd see some (I saw my first local Tesla the other day, the guy had blacked out the badge to avoid having it vandalized). I'm not sure we're going to see a race towards Europeans as a group buying humongous, impractical, extremely expensive cartoon trucks.
Yes, they don't belong here.
That angle almost helps its case because that's mostly large cars for the EU parked rather loosely in a spacious spot (guessing those two things are related). The Mercedes kind of breaks the illusion that it makes some sense.
That thing would take two spaces and definitely go past the max length in the average underground parking lot.
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(7 replies)
@Eyekaytee @Sunshine Believe me, there are enough Ameriboos here in Europe (especially in positions of power) to make this a real problem if this is allowed to be normalized without some major consumer or other type of backlash.
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(1 replies)
So as I understand this - which seems to be totally at odds with everyone else commenting - this will actually make it harder for people to drive these things on the road in the EU. Currently you can import those things without them being subject to EU categorisation and safety requirements if it's a one off (to quote Not Stanley, "I ain't no serial killer! I killed a bunch of people but they were all one-offs!") but now these will be categorised and controlled the same as EU vehicles instead, and subject to the same standards for safety, emissions, licensing etc. It's worth keeping in mind that even in the US these aren't categorised as cars, so why would they be in the EU? So someone with a car license (normally limited to 3.5T GLW) couldn't drive one, even if they pinky-swore that they wouldn't fully load it as is the case at the moment.
The EU has different licenses for cars and trucks? Cool!
I've always found it weird that a standard license here lets you drive anything from a teeny tiny SmartCar to an F350 pulling a massive palace-in-wheels, or a near bus-sized motorhome (provided it doesn't have air brakes and is under 4600kg).
Wait. Are you telling me that the American "if you can parallel park, here's your driver license" license allows you to legally drive trucks and other heavy machinery?
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(2 replies)
what in the flying fuck
Up to member states means they probably won't do it, since it's a matter of national politics and popularity...
@Sunshine make them undrivable.
We are already in a situation where they have to stop in the village centers to let people move out of the way for the extra wide load. I do not move. I don't think anyone should
In Europe those over the top insane-looking american "trucks" need heavy goods vehicle license, plus even if it's light enough for the regular license, it's still classified as a cargo vehicle which is subject for more tax (either yearly tax or sometimes even road usage tax). People can already buy new "trucks" (even Volkswagen makes one) and import old ones from the US for a long time, but extra tax is not something most want to pay.
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(5 replies)
The real money is gonna be made from exporting truck nuts.
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