The recent escalation in trade tensions between the United States and the European Union, marked by President Donald Trump’s threat to impose 25% tariffs on EU goods, has brought the issue of automobile trade into sharp focus.
He especially blames German imports to the US as a thread and unfair advantage of Germany against the US.
While the U.S. administration seeks to balance trade deficits by encouraging American car exports to Europe, several factors make U.S. cars less appealing to European consumers.
Fuel Efficiency and Cost
European fuel prices are significantly higher than those in the United States, primarily due to higher taxes aimed at promoting energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions. Consequently, European consumers prioritize fuel-efficient vehicles. Many U.S. cars, particularly larger models like SUVs and trucks, are designed with less emphasis on fuel economy, making them less attractive in a market where fuel efficiency is paramount.
Engine Displacement Taxes
In countries like Germany, vehicle taxation is based on engine displacement. Larger engines incur higher taxes, discouraging the purchase of vehicles with high cubic capacity. Since many American cars are equipped with larger engines, they become financially impractical for European consumers who are mindful of both purchase and ownership costs.
Regulatory Differences
The European Union enforces stringent regulations on vehicle safety, emissions, and design standards. American cars, built to comply with U.S. regulations, often require significant modifications to meet EU standards. This adaptation process is costly and time-consuming, deterring U.S. manufacturers from exporting certain models to Europe.
Market Competition
The European automotive market is highly competitive, with numerous established brands offering a wide range of vehicles tailored to local tastes and requirements. While some U.S. models are present, they often struggle to gain significant market share against well-entrenched European and increasingly popular Asian brands.
Challenges for Luxury Brands
American luxury car brands face difficulties in Europe due to pricing strategies and consumer preferences. European luxury brands dominate the market, and consumers often perceive them as offering superior quality and prestige. As a result, American luxury vehicles find more success in markets like China and the U.S., where brand perceptions and consumer preferences differ.
Started in spring of 2024 Condor introduced their non-stop flights from Frankfurt, Germany to San Antonio, Texas with their brand new fleet of Airbus A330neo. This elevated the city with a population of 1.5 million to a global player.
Why this route makes sense for San Antonio
San Antonio is known as the Military City of the US. It has four different military bases and 60% of the population are US military veterans. While the largest US military facility outside the US is in Rammstein, Germany, not far away from Frankfurt, this route makes total sense. I talked to many people who know someone who is actually stanioned in Rammstein or off-base and they want to use this opportunity to visit them once.
Also many people want to visit Europe and this is just an opportunity to fly to Europe without taking a trip to Austin or Houston or fly mutli-legs.
The wrong timing to withdraw flights
Just after one year of servicing San Antonio Condor discontinues going to Texas. When they have started the service in spring 2024 people were excited that San Antonio finally has a european destination added to their flight plan.
They went three times a week what is a pretty high ammount concidering there are direct flights to the same airport from better prepared Austin-Bergstrom International Airport where you have multiple lounges and the process for international travel is more settled compared to SATX.
But starting this service is not wrong at all. It just needs time. They announced the service in end of 2023 but there we no ads in the city of San Antonio, no large social media campaigns or other. So one of the biggest marketing channels was word of mouth. And that just takes time. Especially with Condor being a holiday airline compared to the big known carriers like Lufthansa or United, people might have been spectical about the quality and service of Condor. One year later people have heard of the opportunity to go to Europe with the convenience of not going up norht to Austin over a crowded I35 and pay toll and they pull out of San Antonio.
It just takes time. The first year was about to spread the word and proof that Condor is a good carrier. Then people start to plan their vacations for the next year, especially if it’s a long trip to Europe.
In an area like San Antonio where people don’t fly outside of the US that often a trip to Europe is something special that takes some preperation time. So 2025 would have been the first season to proof the interest of South Texas going to Europe from SATX.
Marketeer San Antonio
Let’s turn it around and see why the marketing failed for San Antonio as a destination from a European perespective and what they could have done.
Europeans love to travel and especially Germans love the US. On the first trip to the US most people have New York City, Miami, Las Vegas or Los Angeles in mind. These are the first tier road trip destinations. These cities are popular in movies and TV shows and with the west coste they are close to man National Parks. With many people going there, they spread the word at home and show the pictures, the Instagram posts and this is what causes desire to visit these places if you haven’t been there.
Then there are those who come to the US a second or third time. They tend more to aim for second tier destinations: Seattle, San Diego, Houston, Dallas, Savannah, Austin or Chicago to name a few.
Many of these cities also have direct flights from Europe and are present in social media, news stations from Europe pick up headlines and people in general know these cities. You can see what is missing: It’s Texas’ second largest city: San Antonio.
Condor has hired a marketing agency from Europe to promote San Antonio and I am aware of many travel vloggers and influencers and I have been to Frankfurt twice last year and never have seen any billboard ad or social media marketing promoting the city.
And that’s a huge mistake! Like I mentioned earlier, it’s about the photos, the feelings you sell for travel destinations. And this is what San Antonio has to offer: It’s a vibrant city with a unique vibe. You can get a glympse of a feeling what Mexico is like while you don’t have to care for a visa. With a large original hispanic population, all the good food and culture, this can attract visitors from Europe.
Why not make fun of some european cities? Let’s compare Amsterdam with the Riverwalk. I’m sure some genius marketers will have a dozen of cool marketing clames in their drawer. Want to see Wemby? Here we have him.
Why not make San Antonio the new hub to start a road trip? Not as expensive as Austin and very chill so perfect to relax after an 11 hour flight. Just like Vegas, but it’s Texas. From San Antonio it’s 3 hours to Houston or 1 hour to Austin, 6 hours to Big Bend. I don’t see it being so easy to jump out of the plane, have a super fast immigration and be in your hotel at downtown in a quick 15 min drive. Not any other of the major cities in Texas can provide that.
The best thing they could have made was to invite some influencers to spread the wannabe beauty of the city – but they missed the opportunity.
Why other European Airlines won’t serve San Antonio
Lufthansa already goes to Austin, British Airways and KLM as well. With an one hour drive to Austin that’s not worth marketing a whole new destination. Also from an operations standpoint this is a big impediment. San Antonio airport doesn’t offer that much as other airports do and it’s too small to have a Boing 777 taking off.
Another problem with Condor is that they have no network like Star Alliance or OneWorld and they don’t have attractive shuttle flights with other carriers except from Lufthansa due to a regulatory descision in Germany.
Let’s see what the new build terminal at San Antonio Airport brings to the table and if we will win another major carrier to fly to Europe again.
