[krsh77]

Its hardly a week in Riyadh and I have the feeling that Toyota Land Cruisers outnumber any other Cars here in Riyadh. I may be totally wrong. So I thought of putting up a topic so that BHPians can suggest, argue, debate, etc.. about the National Cars of different countries. We have members from almost all parts of the world. Please contribute.

Please note this is based only on the number of cars we see on an average per day or any given time.

Here is my take-

India - Maruti Suzuki Alto.
KSA - Toyota Land Cruiser.
USA - I couldn't say, however Toyota should be the forerunner prior to Prius issues



Mods - Please move the thread to appropriate location.

[anilkalvani]

I don't know about Bombay, but the national car in Bandra West, rather brand, is Honda. I see maximum Civic's & All Generation City's all over.

[quattroa4]

in aurangabad you will find a skoda in every 5 cars you see . no wonder as a hometown they sell here in huge numbers ..

[kau_therock]

UK: Range and Land Rovers. You got to see a lot of them

[thedreamcatcher]

I dont see the light in this thread and can be entirely based on peoples opinions.

For instance, the title is also wrong, as it suggest we are talking about some national car, like the national flower, sport etc. Which in this case may go to Ambassador.

In terms of popularity, then there are several, for instance, there are a lot of Hondas in Gurgaon, would be different in other cities. Kolkata, mostly Ambassadors, the US, it would be Toyota in some places up north, down south it will be more of GMs and Fords. Hong Kong is filled with Toyotas and Hondas.

But it all depends on which place you have been to and what you have seen or simply, take the sales statistics of which car is selling more and post it here.

Mods, I dont see to much value add from this thread, due to its subjective and vague nature. Treat accordingly

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by kau_therock

UK: Range and Land Rovers. You got to see a lot of them

Both high-price, high-end luxury vehicles. You get to see a lot of them if you are near schools where wealthy people drop and pick up their children --- a social strata known as Sloane Rangers!

Odd, though: I'm British, and lived there over fifty years, but I cannot think what would be called our "national" car now! Have we even had one since Ford stopped making the Escort?

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

but I cannot think what would be called our "national" car now! Have we even had one since Ford stopped making the Escort?

Probably the VW Golf. For sure its the national car of Germany.

[hillram]

During my worldwide travels,this is how i observed nationalism over cars to their respective country(in terms of maximum road presence):
Australia - Holden
Malaysia - Proton
France - Peugeot /Renault
Germany - VW/Opel
UK - Vauxhall / Landrover
Italy - Fiat / Lancia /Alfa Romeo\
Sweden - Volvo / SAAB
Spain - SEAT
Czech Republic - Skoda
Japan - Toyota / Suzuki / Honda
UAE - Toyota
India - Maruti Suzuki

[quattroa4]

Originally Posted by hillram

During my worldwide travels,this is how i observed nationalism over cars to their respective country(in terms of maximum road presence):
Australia - Holden
Malaysia - Proton
France - Peugeot /Renault
Germany - VW/Opel
UK - Vauxhall / Landrover
Italy - Fiat / Lancia /Alfa Romeo\
Sweden - Volvo / SAAB
Spain - SEAT
Czech Republic - Skoda
Japan - Toyota / Suzuki / Honda
UAE - Toyota
India - Maruti Suzuki

you said it !!! absolutly right , sir ! anything about brazil and argentina as well as south africa ? i think FIAT rules here .

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Mpower

Probably the VW Golf. For sure its the national car of Germany.

Ford and Vauxhall would leave VW standing in the UK race, partly because their ranges include cars which are much more easily affordable. Ford is so much part of the British psyche that people feel that it is a British company. Sadly, of course, there is no British car company any longer --- not in the mass market, at least.

[schitre05]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Ford and Vauxhall would leave VW standing in the UK race, partly because their ranges include cars which are much more easily affordable. Ford is so much part of the British psyche that people feel that it is a British company. Sadly, of course, there is no British car company any longer --- not in the mass market, at least.

Very true.. and i think apart from the fords and Vauxhalls I have seen a lot of Renaults, Puegeots and Citreons, in short due to the small village like "A Roads" in the UK one would encounter that a lot of small cars sell in the UK, and not to forget "The Black Taxi" which was again based on some puegeot platform

[Thad E Ginathom]

The black cab is almost as archetypically British as Tower Bridge (which is not called "London" Bridge) --- but it is almost as restricted to London as the bridge is.

in short due to the small village like "A Roads" in the UK one would encounter that a lot of small cars sell in the UK

Of course, there are aspirational and status-symbol luxury cars in UK, but there is less prejudice against the small car, and none against the hatchback. Another factor that keeps small cars popular is difficulty of city parking. What has struck me in this thread (or subthread) is the variety of cars in UK (...and Europe).

If there is no "National" car, there are any number of sub-culture cars. There's Indians buying Nissans, Orthodox Jews driving Volvos --- and gangstas in blacked-out BMWs, just to name a few. The Sloane Rangers, before they became such, were probably daddy-gave-me-this-Golf-GTI*-for-my-21st-birthday-ers! Hey... they don't mind hatchbacks!


*convertible, of course!

[krsh77]

Originally Posted by thedreamcatcher

I dont see the light in this thread and can be entirely based on peoples opinions.

For instance, the title is also wrong, as it suggest we are talking about some national car, like the national flower, sport etc. Which in this case may go to Ambassador.

In terms of popularity, then there are several, for instance, there are a lot of Hondas in Gurgaon, would be different in other cities. Kolkata, mostly Ambassadors, the US, it would be Toyota in some places up north, down south it will be more of GMs and Fords. Hong Kong is filled with Toyotas and Hondas.

But it all depends on which place you have been to and what you have seen or simply, take the sales statistics of which car is selling more and post it here.

Mods, I dont see to much value add from this thread, due to its subjective and vague nature. Treat accordingly

Forgive me my friend if the title is misleading or vague or if it does not add any value. Yeah no country has a national car similar to a national animal or bird. I never started this thread to talk about the sales statistics of any cars in any country. This is just to express us BHPian's perception (from the automobile angle) on the countries they have visited, lived, etc...

No offense please

[anekho]

Sweden is like a Volvo v70 cake with Saab 9-5 icing

[raj.barcode]

In my point of view it has to be national brands rather than cars

India - maruthi Suzuki/Tata
Srilanka - Toyota
Thailand - Toyota
Australia - Holden
US of A - Ford / Toyota / GM
Indonesia - Toyota/Honda
Malaysia - Proton

rest i haven't traveled so; not much of an idea