In the eyes of my German brother…

So, my “younger brother” has recently arrived back in KC for six weeks. He lived with us while on a foreign exchange student program a few years ago. He will be learning the tricks and trades of the automobile business as part of an internship. Michael Vogel is his name and he comes to us from Germany!

As we sit here at my desk talking about the auto world … it comes to mind that things are done a little differently over there when it comes to cars.

“For the customer, it takes way more time to buy a car. Here it may only take a day or two. Over there it may take months,” Vogel says. “And unlike the US, we drive alone on the test drive.” He also noted that US salespeople tend to be a bit more aggressive and pushy. Hmmm…

“Different cars are being sold all over Europe. Gas prices are up to $8 a gallon, so cars sold are usually smaller; and if larger – they are diesel.” Over half of the vehicles on the road in Germany are diesel.

However, the United States and Germany do share some similarities.

“Cars are a status symbol!” Vogel said.  “On one side, you want to show off, but you don’t want to show off too much…fake modesty, that’s kinda how it is. You don’t want to stand out of the crowd too much!”

I guess you could say we aren’t that different. Although, I like to tell him we are!! wink wink!