2010 Volkswagen Beetle Class Base Hatchback 2-door 2.5l on 2040-cars

Auto blog

6 cars that are eligible for import to the U.S. in 2023

For car enthusiasts, the most exciting part of ringing in a new year is watching the list of import-eligible cars grow. Federal regulations make bringing a late-model car from Europe or Asia mind-bogglingly difficult, but these barriers fall as soon as a vehicle turns 25. There's no need to slash through a jungle of red tape; simply ship your dream forbidden fruit over, pay import duties, and in most states you're good to park a fresh import car in your garage. Of course, you need to locate any car you're considering importing, whether it's on this list of cars you can import in 2023 or not. A quick search of the internet will show that there are a lot of places that specialize in sourcing cars to import into the United States, and while we don't have any firsthand experience with any of them, we can point out a few well-known import car dealers, including some at auction. Duncan Imports and Classics bills itself as "America's Largest JDM Dealer" and keeps a large inventory of vehicles that have already been brought into the States. The Import Guys boast options to ship and finance worldwide, Davey Japan claims to have exported over 50,000 vehicles from Japan, and Goonet Exchange says it's operated by "Japan's largest used car information site." Japanese site Be Forward lists a staggering 10,949 online reviews at the time of writing with an average score of around 4.5 out of 5 stars. If your new year's resolution is to buy a car from overseas, here are some of the highlights from 2023's crop of importable cars. Keep in mind that some of these import cars were introduced in 1997 but didn't enter production until 1998, while others made their debut late in the year. And without further ado, here is a list of six cars that are eligible for import to the U.S. in 2023 that are worth noting. Cars that are eligible to import into the U.S. in 2023 Alfa Romeo 166 Developed to replace the 164, the 166 stands out as Alfa Romeo's last true flagship sedan; it wasn't directly replaced. It shares its front-wheel-drive platform with the Lancia Kappa but the two cars look nothing alike. Alfa Romeo gave the big sedan a smooth, relatively elegant design that borrows several styling cues from the smaller 156.

2015 Volkswagen Jetta TDI

Volkswagen calls its 2015 Jetta "refined, redesigned," and countless man-hours have gone into its re-engineering, but you'd need to crawl all over the car, unbolt most of the body, drive it or spend some time on VW's website to fathom the changes. That's why we wrote, "2015 Volkswagen Jetta is new, we promise," when we first saw the car in New York last April. While we wait for a sweeping next-generation overhaul to come, the marquee elements for now are the new structure underneath designed to win an IIHS Top Safety Pick+ rating, fuel economy increases and a heavily reworked 2.0 TDI diesel engine. Plus, there's ornamental detailing around the body and updated interior, and the revamped trim package and accessories matrix promises to provide more value. That makes it a better buy than the 2014 model, assuming it can find buyers ready to appreciate the subtleties. Outside, improved aerodynamic prowess is the primary goal, and almost all of the visual refresh works to further that aim. A new grille with three cross fins sits atop a slipperier bumper and air intakes. On models with the 1.8T gas engine and new 2.0 TDI diesel, the grille is fitted with a shutter to decrease drag and, on the diesel, speed up the engine warming. There are sleeker rain gutters inside the A-pillars and paneling under the body by the rear axles. Attending to airflow in back is an altered decklid reshaped with an integrated spoiler. Among the other changes are optional adaptive bi-Xenon headlights lined with 15 LED running lights and a chrome strip of brightwork. New fog lights are set in the flanks of the lower lip, and LED taillights can be had on the GLI and Hybrid models, with a tweaked VW logo sitting in between. The illuminating upgrades continue inside with ambient lighting and a crisper dash cluster display. Those cabin changes are joined by an optional "tunnel" theme for the gauges, a new steering wheel design with piano black accents and chrome, redesigned vent controls and new fabric options. Changes to the front substructure from the bumper to the front doors, and strengthened A-pillars combined to win the 2015 sedan a Top Safety Pick+ rating from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. We're here to focus on the diesel model, and the updated EA288 2.0 TDI engine and its modular packaging is the most visceral highlight for 2015, inserting new numbers on every line of the spec sheet compared to its predecessor, save for cylinder bore spacing.

Volkswagen drops "GTi" lawsuit against Suzuki

Way back in 2004, Volkswagen took umbrage with Suzuki being granted permission to use the nameplate "SWIFT GTi" for a performance variant of its small-car offering (2012 equivalent seen here). Now, eight years and surely some very steep legal bills later, VW has finally dropped its claim against Suzuki.
The General Court of the European Union stated, back in March of this year, that Suzuki's GTi registration could not be confused with VW's "Golf GTI." Volkswagen had appealed that ruling, though has now reportedly called off the dogs. In fact, Germany's Die Welt reports that the appeal has been dead for several weeks now.
This news comes amongst continued arbitration acrimony between the two automakers, all revolving around VW's forced divestiture of nearly 20-percent stake it purchased in Suzuki some two years ago.