11 Car Brands You Won't See in America

If there's one thing that Americans love, it's cars. We really love cars. We were the country that started the muscle car craze, the country that made some of the best sports cars in history, and the country that has the most cars per capita in the world.

Considering how much the U.S. of A loves cars, it's surprising for many readers to find out that there are some car brands that never made it stateside—or, if they did, experienced very short lifespans here while they flourished elsewhere.

If you're like me, you're sick of hearing about Ford, Toyota, Chrysler, or Dodge. Here are some of the car companies that never quite got to the United States for one reason or another.

Daewoo was a Korean car company that had a very short-lived run in the United States. Their cars were known for being efficient and functional, but not really very stylish.

Though they had a small attempt at making it into the American car world in the 80s, Daewoo never really caught on. It ended up failing worldwide, and now remains one of the car brands that no longer exist.

The brand's assets were bought up by Tata Motors. They then became defunct, with assets going towards creating commercial vehicles almost exclusively.

Russia's Lada was one of the only car brands to really exist behind the Iron Curtain, and though it was considered to be a basic brand in those years, it still remains in existence today.

Russians love their Ladas, and to a point, it's viewed very similar to both Jeep and Ford brands here. The builds are similar, the variety in machines is noteworthy, and they even have some pretty nice family-friendly SUVs.

Though it's not the sportiest car company out there, it's safe to say that it's a pretty affordable and popular car brand out in the Eastern bloc.

Mumbai's Tata Motors might not be one of the car brands you'll see in America, but make no mistake about it, it's a very popular brand. The company currently has one of the largest fleets in the world and remains a global leader among commercial vehicle manufacturers.

That being said, giant trucks aren't the only thing that Tata makes. They also have an impressively pretty line of cars available throughout India and Southeast Asia.

You might have seen Suzuki motorcycles on American streets, but Suzuki cars? Probably not. This Japanese auto manufacturer had pulled out its car line from the United States decades ago and it's really our loss. (JDM girls will agree with me on this one.)

Their zippy, urban-oriented cars are great at handling and have the classic JDM durability that people love. This is one of those car brands that would do very well in the US if given the chance—especially the Suzuki Swift Sport.

It's worth pointing out that Suzuki is one of the most reliable car brands outside of the US. Americans love reliability, which means Suzuki definitely would find a home here.

Geely currently remains one of China's most popular car brands—right alongside Great Wall. Geely, though, seems like it would have been particularly popular in America, which is why we're placing it on this list.

This brand has a number of tech-heavy sedans, SUVs, and crossovers that are roomy, amenity-filled, and at the same time, pretty good with handling.

Car manufacturing in China is still a new business, but these small cars and SUVs definitely would make a driver smile. From what we've seen, it looks like a pretty good car brand with a lot to offer families in the US.

Another popular member of the Chinese car brands family is SsangYong, and in a lot of ways, they are very similar to Geely. They have a lot of tech, built in Apple CarPlay, great GPS, and a ton of cushy amenities in each model.

SsangYong has a lot of nice cars that look like they'd do great on the road. We couldn't quite find out why they aren't being sold stateside yet, but could we change that? It'd be amazing to drive one of these!

With a name like Donkervoort, you might think that this goofy-sounding brand is something of a joke. However, this couldn't be further from the truth. Donkervoort is one of the very, very few car brands to specialize in handmade, ultra-luxury machines that rock racetracks.

This brand is really a Europe-only brand for the most part, with no US sales ever being recorded. Currently, there is only one Donkervoort owner in the United States, making this one of the rarest car brands you'll ever see stateside.

Peugeot is one of those car brands that used to sell cars in the US, but hasn't really done so in recent decades. Ever since 1992, the European car company had shuttered its doors in the United States to focus on its booming European market.

The reason, we suspect, is because Peugeot wasn't making much money. Americans love bigger cars and trucks, and sadly, this company is known for having compact cars as their strong point.

Nowadays, people love petite cars with great gas mileage. The brand is also rumored to be coming back stateside soon enough, thanks to their SUV line. So, Peugeot, please be a car brand that'll come back? We love you here, we really do!

JDM lovers will tell you that Datsun's a pretty popular car company based out of Japan that used to sell cars in America back in the day. However, when the company shuttered its doors in 1986, it seemed like all would be lost for this Nissan subsidiary.

When the company relaunched in 2013, the Datsun name quickly spread throughout Asia. Unfortunately, the new line of Datsuns have yet to make an appearance in America, where their $7,000 Datsun Go would be a smash hit.

We're willing to bet that they will soon enough.

Finally, I'm going to talk about a personal favorite: Mitsuoka. This is a Japanese brand that makes some of the most beautiful and unique vehicles you'll ever see, including the Mitsuoka Orochi.

Ultra-high luxury amenities and a supercar styling? Oh my, yes. This might be one of the best car brands that America has never seen. It's sadly one of the car brands that never made it to America, but please, we need to change this.