President’s Barack Obama recent announcement that he intends to ease, if not lift, the 54-year old US trade embargo against Cuba might open up a previously closed market for US automakers.
Although it’s very early to say what rules current President Raul Castro will impose on American manufacturers and dealers who wish to enter the Communist-ran state, Autonews reports that Detroit’s Big Three are already watching the situation with interest.
“We’re very encouraged by the news announced [by Obama]”, said a GM spokesman last week. “We will certainly evaluate any opportunities that may present themselves.” Likewise, a Ford spokesman admitted that the Blue Oval is “reviewing the initiative to determine its potential impact for the auto industry”.
Still, Obama’s announcement doesn’t mean that US companies are free to trade with Cuba. In fact, a bipartisan opposition to this move is already building up led by Senators Marco Rubio (Republican, Florida) and Bob Menendez (Democrat, New Jersey), both of Cuban-American descent.
Even if the embargo is eventually lifted, the automakers have to face other obstacles. Currently, there are 650,000 cars in Cuba, many of them pre-1959 (when the embargo was imposed) American models but most of them Russian, Chinese and Korean, reflecting the government’s alliance with those states when they were ruled by Communist parties.
The main problem is that very few of the country’s 11 million people can afford a luxury such as a new or even used car. The average salary is around US$20 per month, and Reuters reported that just 50 cars have been sold in the first half of the year.