[Maksadbek]

I am from this country and what is written there is exactly as it is.

It is very hard or impossible to come to a car store to buy a car and go back with that car home in one day. You must first make an order and wait for months(usually 4-6) while your car be ready.

Moreover, if you want to buy a car from foreign manufacturers (Mersedes-Benz, BMW, Toyota, etc) you have to pay 2X of its original price.

[bfirsh]

I visited the country a couple of years ago, and a thing that puzzled me was why almost all the cars were white. Do you know why this is?

Some said it was because it is better at keeping the cars cool, but this doesn't explain why surrounding Kazakhstan/Tajikistan/etc had different color cars.

The best explanation I heard was the president liked white cars, so only allowed white cars to get made. This seems most plausible to me, and seems like similar things happened in Turkmenistan: https://www.motor1.com/news/226932/turkmenistan-president-ba...

[9nGQluzmnq3M]

White cars are very popular in hot, dry climates (like Uzbekistan) because they don't absorb as much heat in the desert run. For another example of this in a much freer car market, see Israel, where I'd guess a solid 80-90% of cars on the road are white.

[Maksadbek]

You're right, 90% of cars are white coloured. Honestly I have no idea why it is that. Prabably this worth some research.

But usually when my friends wanted to buy a car, they chose the white color by the following criteria: it does not heat much like other colors on the sun. If we take into account that there are not much parking lots and garages with a roof, white colored car is the best choice.

[xenospn]

In Israel, people say it's "easier to sell a white car".

[moltar]

It’s pretty much the same in SEA. Because it’s hot. White cars heat up much less.

[ConsiderCrying]

Has it not changed at all since the article's publication a bit over a year ago? The author expresses hopes of the new leadership changing things at the end but I take it that didn't happen?

[Maksadbek]

Yes, the situation is slowly changing and currently you don't have to pay a bribe (it is called a "shapka" in article) to buy a new car from a car stores.

BTW: "shapka" or "шапка" (from Russian) is translated to English as a "hat" or "cap". That means, when you buy a thing, you need to also pay for its hat too.

[SomeoneFromCA]

New leadership is now showing its utter incompetence in handling the Covid crisis (official death numbers are severely undercounted, 3x-30x; hospitals are full). It is not nearly as good as their impression they project outside the country.

[erikbye]

> Moreover, if you want to buy a car from foreign manufacturers (Mersedes-Benz, BMW, Toyota, etc) you have to pay 2X of its original price.

Funny, in Norway it's more like 3X.

[jacobush]

Den sista sovjetrepubliken (sorry :-)

[zerr]

I assume those who buy from car stores (i.e. new cars) are a tiny minority there.

[xenospn]

Israel is the same. (at least it was when I lived there, pre-2012).

[SomeoneFromCA]

Do you still live there?

[Maksadbek]

No, I relocated to Moscow 4 years ago. But I visit my parents once a year. That's why I still know what is happening there.