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More recently, Samoa switched from driving on the right to driving on the left. This change was so that they would be able to import cheaper Japanese used cars

More recently, Samoa switched from driving on the right to driving on the left. This change was so that they would be able to import cheaper Japanese used cars.

disordinary 9y ago
Probably used cars from New Zealand. The reason they switched is that New Zealand dominates the south pacific as both the largest donor of aid and also the biggest trading partner to most of the pacific countries.
- kirrent 9y ago
  Do you have a source on that? All sources I can find show Australia providing about 5 times the aid as NZ. About what you'd expect given respective populations. MFAT doesn't appear to support your claims. https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/countries-and-regions/pacific/#Trade https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/countries-and-regions/pacific/#T...
  - disordinary 9y ago
    I don't have the numbers of total contributions, Samoa was historically an NZ protectorate and there are 144,000 Samoans who live in NZ who send a big chunk of their pay checks home, they also send a lot of money back to Samoa through the Samoan church groups. I tried to find the information on the total flow of money from NZ to Samoa but the only things that I could find was the official government aid of $22.3 million, which compares to $35.8 million from Australia, but the aid from private citizens would be massive. Auckland has the largest Polynesian population in the world and for quite a few pacific islands more of their citizens live in Auckland then back in their homelands, people are expected to come here and work and send all of their spare money back home.
- toomanybeersies 9y ago
  I suspect not. About 60% of cars imported into New Zealand are used cars, and New Zealand doesn't manufacture any cars. By the time a car has finished its life in New Zealand, it ends up on a scrapheap. There is no appreciable car export industry in NZ. If you Google search for "Car imports Samoa", the first page is entirely websites exporting cars from Japan.
fyfy18 9y ago
Last year I visited Armenia where they also import a lot of second hand Japanese cars. I found this suprising as they drive on the right, and due to their proximity to Europe, I assumed importing cars from there would be a lot cheaper. Does anyone know why this is the case?
- adventured 9y ago
  Extraordinary volume in the sub $35,000 bracket. Europe's auto money makers are Germany's ~$35,000+ vehicles from BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Audi. Toyota, Honda, Hyundai (SK), Mazda, Suzuki, Kia (SK) and Nissan combined dominate the mid cost or lower vehicle category at massive scale. Volkswagen has been battling Toyota for the total sales crown, however Asia has a bunch of other companies competing at high scale in that bracket as well. I don't know what the volume comes out to, but I wouldn't be surprised if Asia is selling more than 2/3 of all cars in that segment globally.
- TorKlingberg 9y ago
  Japan has very strict inspection rules on older cars, probably to boost car manufacturers.

More recently, Samoa switched from driving on the right to driving on the left. This change was so that they would be able to import cheaper Japanese used cars.

disordinary 9y ago

Probably used cars from New Zealand. The reason they switched is that New Zealand dominates the south pacific as both the largest donor of aid and also the biggest trading partner to most of the pacific countries.

kirrent 9y ago
Do you have a source on that? All sources I can find show Australia providing about 5 times the aid as NZ. About what you'd expect given respective populations. MFAT doesn't appear to support your claims. https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/countries-and-regions/pacific/#Trade https://www.mfat.govt.nz/en/countries-and-regions/pacific/#T...
- disordinary 9y ago
  I don't have the numbers of total contributions, Samoa was historically an NZ protectorate and there are 144,000 Samoans who live in NZ who send a big chunk of their pay checks home, they also send a lot of money back to Samoa through the Samoan church groups. I tried to find the information on the total flow of money from NZ to Samoa but the only things that I could find was the official government aid of $22.3 million, which compares to $35.8 million from Australia, but the aid from private citizens would be massive. Auckland has the largest Polynesian population in the world and for quite a few pacific islands more of their citizens live in Auckland then back in their homelands, people are expected to come here and work and send all of their spare money back home.
toomanybeersies 9y ago
I suspect not. About 60% of cars imported into New Zealand are used cars, and New Zealand doesn't manufacture any cars. By the time a car has finished its life in New Zealand, it ends up on a scrapheap. There is no appreciable car export industry in NZ. If you Google search for "Car imports Samoa", the first page is entirely websites exporting cars from Japan.

fyfy18 9y ago

Last year I visited Armenia where they also import a lot of second hand Japanese cars. I found this suprising as they drive on the right, and due to their proximity to Europe, I assumed importing cars from there would be a lot cheaper. Does anyone know why this is the case?

adventured 9y ago
Extraordinary volume in the sub $35,000 bracket. Europe's auto money makers are Germany's ~$35,000+ vehicles from BMW, Mercedes, Porsche, Audi. Toyota, Honda, Hyundai (SK), Mazda, Suzuki, Kia (SK) and Nissan combined dominate the mid cost or lower vehicle category at massive scale. Volkswagen has been battling Toyota for the total sales crown, however Asia has a bunch of other companies competing at high scale in that bracket as well. I don't know what the volume comes out to, but I wouldn't be surprised if Asia is selling more than 2/3 of all cars in that segment globally.
TorKlingberg 9y ago
Japan has very strict inspection rules on older cars, probably to boost car manufacturers.