"We know from our surveys that Americans love 'German engineering' and precision, and comfort---"

Several German words have wended their way into common usage in the United States since colonial times, including kindergarten, gesundheit, zeitgeist, angst, lederhosen and bratwurst.

Others have emerged more recently, such as Fahrvergnügen, popularized among young hipsters of the era in a series of North American TV ads for Volkswagen automobiles in the mid-1990's.

Cool Germania
Still others have attained a kind of gold standard of eternal coolness, even if they are not commonly used in English, such as Autobahn.
Julianne Moore, playing to startling effect a glorious caricature of a postfeminist artist with a highly affected private schoolgirl accent in the Coen Brothers' cult classic The Big Lebowski, shows Jeff Bridges a record put out by a German band in the 1970's. She points out that this fictional band, an obvious allusion to the critically acclaimed German electro-pop wunderkinds Kraftwerk, only completed this one single record, which they dubbed "Autobahn."
The German Autobahn (highway) is shrouded in legend, particularly for people who like to experience Fahvergnügen (driving pleasure).
"Germany, isn't that the country where the Autobahn is?" is one of the primary questions Germans traveling abroad are still asked today, especially by people who would like to get behind the wheel of a German-engineered car and put the pedal to the metal on a well-groomed stretch of the Autobahn lacking speed limits (such limits do actually exist in Germany, but vary greatly as elsewhere from city streets to highways).

Delighted in Detroit
As reported earlier this week by media following the North American International Auto Show in Detroit from January 10 to 11, German car manufacturers are looking forward to predicitions of robust sales in the near future.
German luxury carmakers - including Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW, and Porsche - attended the Detroit Auto Show with a view to making major inroads into the United States, which at present remains their largest foreign market. (The China-Asia market is catching up in purchasing Mercedes-Benz models and other German luxury brands.)
As reported by Deutsche Welle, Matthias Wissmann, president of Germany's national car industry association, says 2011 could be a record-setting year for sales of German cars in the US, with an 11 percent increase being forecast.

Unprecedented Worldwide
"Almost every American who is interested in cars wants a Porsche, Audi, Mercedes, or BMW. And more and more, they are actually buying these more expensive cars. The demand for German cars in the USA remains unprecedented worldwide," he said.
German carmakers, inlcuding Porsche - absent for the past four years at the Detroit Motor Show - were all waxing optimistic this week.
"We know from our surveys that Americans love 'German engineering' and precision, and comfort, and we took that it into account with our new Passat. And we are convinced that this will lead to more Americans buying Volkswagen," Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn told Deutsche Welle.
Economists blame a state-supported cash-for-clunkers scheme for a dip in German car sales in 2010, and paint a far rosier picture for the industry in 2011 and 2012.

Endless Love
America's ongoing love affair with German-made cars is, of course, already steeped in modern history, with the Volkswagen Beetle coming to define an entire generation in the 1960's, and other models from Mercedes, BMW, Porsche and Audi symbolizing success, style, safety, luxury and glamour.
Janis Joplin knew what she wanted when she crooned "Oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes-Benz?"
To drive a German car on the Autobahn and experience real Fahrvergnügen is truly a splendid experience for people from all walks of life.

Karen Carstens
Editor, The Week in Germany