Well, make a fictional country and tell us about its car market. What cars are popular there? Why? What sort of drivers are there? How does the car culture look? My example: Stolavia is a coastal country, located between Bosnia and Croatia and smaller than either one of them. It has ca. 4 million inhabitants. The major industries are retail, mining and tourism. As a former part of Yugoslavia, its car market was mostly consisted of what the rest of the country's market was consisting of: Yugos and Zastavas as the,main mean of transport, affordable for many families. However, car ownership was not as prominent as it is today. Later, it avoided the wars, so there was potential for the economy. Now, the wealth situates it between Mideastern Europe (Poland, Hungary, etc.) and Croatia, which makes the average Stolavian able to spend about 28k Stolavian dinars on a car (equivalent to $4.5k). Stolavians have had a fondness for large cars, starting in the 1930s. Because of that, most of them buy larger used cars. However, their fuel budgets are not the highest, so most engines are between 2.2-3.5 litres. This is a large figure for a Slav country, but is kept up by the government having the fuel tax low. The most popular cars now are used German imports, thanks to Stolavia joining the EU in 2009. Most of them are large cars, bought in Germany for below €3500. Examples are 1994-2001 BMW 730is, 1995-2003 BMW 530is, 3.0 VW Phaetons, 2002-2005 Mercedes E280s, 1998-2005 Mercedes S280s or 1994-2002 Audi A8s. These cars are kept running by solutions made by Stolavian mechanics to keep operating costs low. Using substandard China-made spare parts and local mechanic-made Airmatic to standard suspension kits is frequent. Rural areas also have their fair share of large cars. The Mercedes W123 and W124 and 1980s/1990s BMW 5-Series cars, as well as Opel Omegas, are often found there. However, in the 90s and most of the first decade of the 2000s cars used to be even more unusual there. Many Stolavians made a living importing used cars from the USA. Due to several agreements, cars were an import tax-free good back then. So the idea was that the trader buys several really cheap (sub-$1000) used midsizers and fullsizers with six cylinders, ships them by sea to Stolavia and sells them with a low mark-up. That made American cars available to a large portion of Stolavians and a common sight on the roads. Other people bought used German upper midsizers with 4-bangers. You can still see the occasional Fury or Torino driven on rural roads by an elderly redneck. New cars are quite rare, as most Stolavians either can't afford any or are unsatisfied with the size of what they can afford. Most new cars are midsizers and fullsizers from German brands, bought by the upper class. The classic car market is quite small. Classics are cheap, due to a low demand. Due to a quite possible public backlash, the government has never really interfered with the popularity of large cars, which means there is no engine size tax (just a flat 4% import tax), low fuel tax and cheap insurance. Stolavia's road network mostly consists of well-maintained highways, roads in and between towns that might have their share of damage, mountain roads in a state of disrepair and rural dirt roads. Stolavia does not have a prominent car culture. In fact, most of its residents don't really care for cars, apart from wanting the largest ones possible. They are pretty careful and slow drivers. And what is your fictional car market?
Your fictional country is pretty much similar to my country, Serbia. Most cars are used German or French imports that worth around 2-10000€. However, here you can see a lot more new or newer cars and most of people care about their cars. We have classic car scene, so there are classic cars that have bigger prices. OT: My fictional country is called Fotikia. Fotikia is coastal and mountain country located between Greece and Bulgaria. Population: around 3 milion Major industries: tourism, agriculture, industry Before joining into EU, Fotikia was a poor country. Many people didn't have their own cars. There was just 121 cars per 1000 people. Many people was unemployed, and people that had a job had small salaries. But things changed, Fotikia entered the EU in 1983. After that there was a constant progress in every aspect of economy. For example average salary in 1982 was 200000 Fotikian drahmas (around 350 euros) compared to whopping 700000 drahmas in 1987 (around 1225 euros today). That reflected on car scene. Before 1980s cars that average Fotikian could afford was Zastavas, Ladas, small Datsun sedans, and all small affordable cars. After joining most people bought new Opels, VWs, Peugeots, etc. It's pretty much same today. Fotikia somehow managed to avoide economic crisis in 2008, so there is very little unemployment. Average Fotikian today spend around 28000 euros on car. Most popular cars here are fully equipped modern SUVs like Renault Kadjar or Hyundai Tucson, large sedans like Škoda Superb and modern hatchbacks like VW Golf. Fuel prices are pretty low compared to other countries, thanks to oil finding in Aeagean sea. Registarion taxes are also low for new cars owners, because Fotikian goverment give the benefit on every on newly registrated car. Sale of new cars in 2016 was 72000 new cars sold, with most of new cars sold to private owners. That is a big number for a country that have 3 milion people. Because that there are strong used car market. Demand for used cars is so big that used car sellers are forced to import cars from Western Europe. Most popular used cars are BMW 7-Series F01, Mercedes-Benz S-Class W221, Audi A8, Mercedes GL, etc. In rural areas situation is totally different. Rolling stock consists most of 1980s and 1990s Japanese pickups and late 1990s and early 2000s hatchbacks. Car that farmers really adore is 1997 - 2005 Toyota Hilux. Cheap, reliable and easy and cheap to maintain make it a perfect car for farmer's needs: going to a field and going to the city to sell products. As a car for going to shopping or cinema, most used cars are mid 2000s station wagons like Ford Focus Wagon which is the most common. Car culture is obviously developed. Average Fotikian family has 3 cars. Most of cars are in good condition because their owners maintain them in official brand services. Average Fotikian get his/her car when he/she has 24 years. Young people as first car usually get late 1990s and early or mid 2000s car; cars like Ford Focus Mk1, Toyota Yaris Mk1 and Mk2 and similar. They adore to modify their cars, so at the end of their ownership, cars are pretty much riced. Fotikians love to keep their cars in good shape; if car get a scratch, they immediately go to fix it. Classic car scene is also developed. There are several major classic car clubs and meetings. Most classic cars are 1960s and 1970s Japanese small saloons, generic classic cars (Fiat 500, Mini, VW Beetle, etc.). In more recent time there's large number of other European classics (BMW 2002, Alfa Romeo Spider, Citroen DS, etc.). From 1950s to 1980s many Fotikians went to USA because job and after they've retired, they went back to Fotikia with their cars (usually 1960s fullsize sedans or 1970s muscle cars; cars like Ford Mustang, Chrysler 300F, Chevrolet Impala, Dodge Charger, etc.), resulting many American classics came to Fotikia. Classic car prices are rising, because of high demand for them. Road network is excellent. Every larger cities are connected each other with modern highways. Other roads are also in good shape, with good width. Spoiler: Fotikian plates Standard plates (MP stands for the capital - Dimitriapolis) Format used from 1984 to 2002 (HM also stans for Dimitriapolis) Format used from 1952 to 1984 Format used before 1952. Diplomatic plates (first two number stands for a country whose embassy car belongs) Plates used on cars which belong to state. Police plates 2002 onwards Police plates 1984-2002 Taxi plates (T stands for Taxi, HM for Dimitriapolis) Classic car plate 2002 onwards (HH-Dimitriapolis) Standard plate for US sized Classic car plate US sized (for US imports)
