I first became aware of Mercedes Benz as a vehicle in 1965 when I moved to Maine. The daughter-in-law of the owner of the Poland Spring Resort, Tudi Feldman, drove a classic Mercedes sedan around the rural hilltop in mid-Central Maine. I’m not sure in those days anyone knew what to make of it. Most locals were still engaged in the Ford v Chevy wars and foreign imports were still a small part of the American automotive scene. Foreign imports were 563,673 units, which represented 5.4 percent of the U.S. market in 1965. In 2024, Americans bought approximately 16 million cars, SUVs, and light trucks, and 50% of these vehicles were imports (8 million) . This represents a dramatic increase from the 1965 level of just 5.4%. The picture becomes even more complex when considering domestic content. Of the other 8 million vehicles assembled in America and not imported, the average domestic content is conservatively estimated at only 50% and is likely closer to 40%. Therefore, of the 16 million cars bought by Americans, only 25% of the vehicle content can be categorized as Made in America . The leading sources of U.S. car imports by value are Mexico – $50 billion (22.8% of total US imported cars), Japan – 18.6%, South Korea – 17.3%, Canada – 12.9%, and Germany – 11.7%,
Looking at brand market share, foreign brands have significant presence. GM, Toyota, and Ford dominate the U.S. auto market with a combined 45% share, marking a continued shift from the traditional “Big Three” (GM, Ford, Chrysler), which last held the top three spots in the early 2000s before Toyota overtook Chrysler in 2007. Hyundai and Honda remain strong contenders, with 11% and 9% market shares, respectively, showing continued demand for Asian automakers. In 2024, the United States of America imported US$219.5 billion worth of cars originating from a total 84 countries or territories , while American revenues from its exported cars equals just 27% of the $219.5 billion that the US spent importing cars from foreign suppliers . Japanese and European brands with high ratio of imports show significant sales decline in recent periods due to various market factors including tariff considerations. The bottom line is that foreign brands and imports now dominate the U.S. automotive market. This represents a complete transformation from 1965, when imports were just 5.4% of the market.
German cars accounted for approximately 259,343 units in 1965. This made Germany the largest single source of imported cars to the U.S. at that time, representing roughly 46% of all imported vehicles. Strangely enough, that situation has reversed itself. BMW Manufacturing has confirmed that it was the leading automotive exporter by value in the United States in 2024, according to data released this month by the U.S. Department of Commerce. Plant Spartanburg exported nearly 225,000 BMW Sports Activity Vehicles and Coupes last year with an export value of more than $10 billion. This is not altogether new. BMW Manufacturing has been the largest automotive exporter by value in the U.S. for nine consecutive year. While Mercedes-Benz does export vehicles from its Alabama facility, it ranks significantly behind BMW. Since 1995, Mercedes-Benz has built many of its SUVs at a facility in Alabama, exporting them to 135 different markets , but the export volumes and values are much smaller than BMW’s Spartanburg plant. BMW Spartanburg holds a dominant lead in export value, thanks to its premium SUV lineup and strong global demand. U.S. OEMs like Ford and GM follow, with pickups, SUVs, and performance cars, and Domestic OEMs (General Motors, Ford, Stellantis, Tesla) are behind BMW in total export value.
Kim and I gave up on BMW cars when, in 2007, we found out X5 too small and cramped. We made an ill-fated shift to a Cadillac Escalade, only to find it strangely more cramped and lacking in many quality elements we had come to expect and which the Germans had long-since perfected. So, when Mercedes launched its GL line of SUV’s and we both sat in a GL 450 in the Manhattan Mercedes dealership, our loyalties shifted to Mercedes. Since then, we have bought 10 GL 450s, all manufactured in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. I guess you can say that we have been happy with the car. One of the reasons we have stayed with the car lately is to accommodate our visiting family (specifically my daughter and her husband and two girls) when they visit us for July. The GL (now we are into the GLS 450 as Mercedes has widened its GL brand) has a third row, but for the first time, we have found that fitting 6 adults into the car is getting tight. We decided that perhaps we need to consider a smaller SUV (we are too used to sitting high to shift back to a coupe) since the big ones (even the non-Mercedes ones) are either too big for us or not big enough for 6 anyway. We have been thinking that it would be cheaper to just get a smaller SUV and rent a car for the kids for July and solve our problem that way.
We looked at the Subaru line since Kim likes their dog donation policies. We looked at Toyotas and Lexus vehicles. I can’t get my head around the Korean brands even though they have come on strong lately. We started thinking about hybrids, regular ones and plug-in ones. There is a lot of chatter about them these days and gas prices are certainly an incentive around here in Southern California to consider anything to keep those costs in check. And then Mercedes started its heavy end-of-lease promotional blitz, throwing everything but the kitchen sink at me. And suddenly I stumbled on the Mercedes GLE 450 SUV. This is the exact same front and second row seating configuration as the GLS that we drive, but 11 inches shorter and without that third row seating configuration. It’s cheaper by about $20k and besides being totally familiar to us in the cockpit, it now comes in a GLE 450e configuration, which is a plug-in hybrid with 50 miles of pure electric range in addition to the regular hybrid efficiencies on its 4-cylinder engine. The base GLS 450 earns an EPA-estimated 19 mpg in the city and 24 mpg on the highway , with 21 mpg combined. The GLE450e hybrid is rated at 21 mpg city and 26 mpg highway , with an estimated 57 MPG-equivalent in the city and 63 MPGe on the highway when including electric operation. It also provides a solid all-electric range of 49 miles. It’s a small pain in the ass to plug it in every day, but Kim is a big garbage sorter, so she doesn’t mind the inconvenience she says…and appreciates the fewer trips to the gas station at Von’s.
So, I consider it a global victory for Mercedes, for German engineering and for globalization overall that we have a new car that is both global and yet still made in the United States.