Smart Cabrio on ebay motors...

That is the old-style plates.

Correct.

For sample pics of current US military personnel plates see e.g.

AD and AF from July 2000 on, HK were introduced later.

The text in the white seal translates into _Armed forces of the United States of America in Germany_

Juergen

Reply to
Juergen .
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Give it up, Brent. Most of the world doesn't give a shit if people top post. It bugs you -- get over it.

Handling is actually regulated under ECE suspension-performance requirements. Brakes, too. Tires, too.

Yes, quite. There is an interesting SAE paper by Chrysler from 1998 which makes this exact point, calling different sets of safety regulations "non-tariff trade restrictions".

Yep.

No, they choose not to in the USA because they don't have to. Plenty of Americans buy their crap without complaint. Proof? The Lumina. The Taurus. Want more? I can go on...

DS

Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

Oh? Which study? I haven't seen that one, would love to see it. Got publication data? Or fax it to me, I have a toll-free fax number (contact me via my website and I'll send you the number)

DS

Reply to
Daniel J. Stern

If I give it up, I'll stop trimming, editing, etc. If everybody 'gives it up' then this sort of communication will quickly become useless as each post carries a few hundred to a few thousand lines of garbage. Those who don't give a shit are simply passing the work on to others. So, I'll give it up for awhile, like I did with my last reply to jaybird.

otay

The existance of buyers for it I took as a given, as in several of my posts about how americans love to buy crap.

Reply to
Brent P

"Juergen ." haute in die Tasten:

Viewed from some distance, these plates look like ordinary german ones. I have heard that this simliarity was intentional to protect US military personnel against anti-american attacks. Is that true?

Frank

Reply to
Frank Kemper

Yes, that is their purpose.

Yes, the intentional similarity was to enhance the security level of the military personnel - it was well before

9/11 so it has nothing to do with Al Queida et al. but with other idiots like political terroristic left-wing fanatics.

Personally I do doubt these imitated plates make any real sense.

Shown in the picture examples were only double-row plates, of course there is also single-row plates but as space on US spec vehicles for number plates is different than on European spec vehicles very often those small double-row plates are used for US military personnel vehicles.

Kind regards

Juergen

Reply to
Juergen .

I see lots of these when I am in the Frankfurt area, which I am frequently.

The blue rectangle in the top left corner designating the country resembles the general EU plate style, which shows 12 stars in a circle with the country underneath. In the US plate it looks like the NATO star.

I have elected to have it on my plates; obviates need for separate country sticker when leaving the UK.

This style of country designation has been adopted in a number of European countries outside the EU (with the appropriate national symbol, such a flag, instead of the 12 stars) and even in Israel.

Example Turkey:

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Israel:
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DAS

Reply to
Dori A Schmetterling

The Blue Oval does very well in the UK, regularly topping the best-seller lists with its Focus, widely praised in the UK for build quality and handling.

I have noticed that it has been the subject of serious (or any) recalls the way, I believe, the US version has been.

Ford of Europe engines are at the forefront of automotive development.

See UK data here:

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Click on 'Record March new car market' and download the report, which includes a spreadsheet of sales by manufacturer (unfortunately not by model).

March YTD:

  1. Ford (15% market share)
  2. Vauxhall (GM) (13%)
  3. Peugeot (7%)
  4. Renault (7%)
  5. VW (excl Audi) (6%)

BMW at 12 (3.4%) and Merc at 13 (3.3% are level-pegging and just beat Audi at 14 (3.0%). If Mini and Smart are added then BMW does significantly better.

In Mar 04 itself the Top 5 stay the same with only slightly different market shares.

Similary for BMW, Merc and Audi, though BMW's position is strengthened slightly.

I have crossposted this to BMW as the readers there may be interested in these numbers.

DAS

Reply to
Dori A Schmetterling

Found stats for individual models:

In Mar 04 the Ford Focus was Numero Uno in the UK for month and YTD and its diesel version topped the diesel list.

YTD

Focus 43,115

Corsa 33,355

206 29,479

Fiesta 27,217

Astra 23,496

Mégane 22,283

Clio 21,688

Mondeo 19,067

Golf 18,366

307 17,830

The Corsa and Astra are Vauxhall/GM.

206 and 307 are Peugeot Megane and Clio are Renault. Focus, Fiesta and Mondeo are Ford.

March 04

23,190 Focus 20,750 Corsa 18,973 206 17,013 Fiesta 13,432 Clio 13,041 Astra 12,307 3 series 12,221 Mégane 11,122 307 10,559 Mondeo

BMW pops up!!

DAS

Reply to
Dori A Schmetterling

Reply to
Carlos Neto

I am still seeking an opportunity to try one out, short of hiking across London to a dealer for a test drive.

Nearly hired one for a day during my holiday/business trip abroad last week but a client offered to collect me instead...

DAS

Reply to
Dori A Schmetterling

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