4 ms·

DC has the highest % of foreign cars being sold. Idle speculation: I wonder if some foreign embassies mandate buying their national car brands, and if they sell

DC has the highest % of foreign cars being sold. Idle speculation: I wonder if some foreign embassies mandate buying their national car brands, and if they sell their cars quite often to keep their fleet shiny new...

throwaway0a5e 6y ago
I propose a simpler solution. DC is stupid wealthy. And we all know wealthy suburbanites love their Toyotas and Hondas (and respective luxury brands) and wouldn't be caught dead driving an Impala let alone a <clutches pearls> Cadillac. So that's what the market gets saturated with.
- hpkuarg 6y ago
  Oh, yes. A drive around the Northern Virginia suburbs very quickly confirms this.
- culopatin 6y ago
  Interesting how in the south the wealthy like to drive Suburbans. Perhaps in DC there is a bigger percentage of progressive people who’d choose to drive a Prius?
- lotsofpulp 6y ago
  How is foreign made even defined? Because there’s tons of Toyota and Honda made in the US, and Ford and Chevy made in Mexico.
  - coin 6y ago
    And do they classify Chrysler as domestic or foreign (part of FCA)?
spelling_counts 6y ago
Your speculation is poor - since there are 193+ countries and the imports from foreign countries is roughly 6 that are road legal by NHTSA. Germany - Japan - Italy - Sweden - South Korea - England. Foreign cars that are not produced under approved brands from these countries would be classed as grey market and are subject to import laws, that would likely make your proposed mandate impractical. Also the number of foreign diplomats in DC's ~690,000 population is unlikely to skew the numbers.
deftnerd 6y ago
I think it might just be a way for staff at embassies to make some money on the side. Embassy employees are allowed to import vehicles without paying import duties or taxes. Buying a car every month or two and reselling it to auto dealers could provide a reasonable profit. A few years ago, tariffs accounted for 25% of a cars price for SUV's and Light-Duty Trucks from the EU. I'm not sure if it's changed since the new administration has started. https://www.state.gov/about-us-diplomatic-importation-program/ https://www.state.gov/about-us-diplomatic-importation-progra...
therealcamino 6y ago
It's just that DC is the only jurisdiction there that is 100% urban/suburban. Most states have a mix of urban and rural areas and there are different buying preferences between them. If you plotted nearby cities as separate categories you'd probably see something similar. There are over 700,000 residents in DC so the effect of embassies is vanishingly small.

throwaway0a5e 6y ago

I propose a simpler solution. DC is stupid wealthy. And we all know wealthy suburbanites love their Toyotas and Hondas (and respective luxury brands) and wouldn't be caught dead driving an Impala let alone a <clutches pearls> Cadillac. So that's what the market gets saturated with.

hpkuarg 6y ago
Oh, yes. A drive around the Northern Virginia suburbs very quickly confirms this.
culopatin 6y ago
Interesting how in the south the wealthy like to drive Suburbans. Perhaps in DC there is a bigger percentage of progressive people who’d choose to drive a Prius?
lotsofpulp 6y ago
How is foreign made even defined? Because there’s tons of Toyota and Honda made in the US, and Ford and Chevy made in Mexico.
- coin 6y ago
  And do they classify Chrysler as domestic or foreign (part of FCA)?

spelling_counts 6y ago

Your speculation is poor - since there are 193+ countries and the imports from foreign countries is roughly 6 that are road legal by NHTSA. Germany - Japan - Italy - Sweden - South Korea - England. Foreign cars that are not produced under approved brands from these countries would be classed as grey market and are subject to import laws, that would likely make your proposed mandate impractical. Also the number of foreign diplomats in DC's ~690,000 population is unlikely to skew the numbers.

deftnerd 6y ago

I think it might just be a way for staff at embassies to make some money on the side. Embassy employees are allowed to import vehicles without paying import duties or taxes. Buying a car every month or two and reselling it to auto dealers could provide a reasonable profit. A few years ago, tariffs accounted for 25% of a cars price for SUV's and Light-Duty Trucks from the EU. I'm not sure if it's changed since the new administration has started. https://www.state.gov/about-us-diplomatic-importation-program/ https://www.state.gov/about-us-diplomatic-importation-progra...

therealcamino 6y ago

It's just that DC is the only jurisdiction there that is 100% urban/suburban. Most states have a mix of urban and rural areas and there are different buying preferences between them. If you plotted nearby cities as separate categories you'd probably see something similar. There are over 700,000 residents in DC so the effect of embassies is vanishingly small.