When you hire a kid straight out of university in Sweden...and you count in all of the extras you have to pay for him...the total package is well over $50k. Alot of this is simply medical coverage, state taxes, unemployment compensation, etc. You can understand why Europe can't compete now against the US...with the Euro rate dropping. You can manufacture a typical European vehicle cheaper in the US, and ship it to Europe than manufucture it there in the first place.