# Which countries don't manufacturer any cars or commercial vehicles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 20, 2016, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-countries-dont-manufacturer-any-cars-or-commercial-vehicles/775204 "2016-12-20T02:21:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-countries-dont-manufacturer-any-cars-or-commercial-vehicles/775204/21 "2016-12-20T20:44:04Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Sure, if it’s manufactured in a country then it counts. > > But there’s something special about the brand’s actually designed and built for a country. It reflects their style and sensibilities. > > Countries that only import probably don’t have the same special connection to their cars. So I’m confused. I believe the Big Three North American automakers have plants in Canada. But none are based there. So do you consider Canada to have domestic auto production or not? ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-countries-dont-manufacturer-any-cars-or-commercial-vehicles/775204/22 "2016-12-20T20:54:32Z")
Yes, Canada manufactures cars. They are American brands but they are still Canadian if they are made there. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-countries-dont-manufacturer-any-cars-or-commercial-vehicles/775204/23 "2016-12-20T20:56:34Z")
In that case I have no idea what to make of the following post. > [@aceplace57](#): > > Cars are often part of a country’s culture and identity. Ford and Chevy in the US. BMW in Germany. Renault in France. UK had BMC with the Mini. Even the Soviets had the Lada, ZiL and Volga. The roads in these countries were filled with cars they manufactured. A lot has changed with Globalization and imports. But you still see a lot of Renault’s in France and BMW’s in Germany. Lots of Ford’s and Chevy’s in the US. > > I was curious which countries didn’t have their own manufactured cars. > > Thank you for your help. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-countries-dont-manufacturer-any-cars-or-commercial-vehicles/775204/24 "2016-12-20T21:22:51Z")
I was thinking about the classic autos actually designed and built in each country. Some of those brands are still made. But many autos are manufactured & sold in country’s that are actually foreign brands. Either way, the country where it’s manufactured still counts. A Ford manufactured in Canada is sold there and it’s a Canadian car. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-countries-dont-manufacturer-any-cars-or-commercial-vehicles/775204/25 "2016-12-20T21:26:03Z")
New Zealand has no domestic car manufacture or assembly, and only some limited commercial vehicle manufacture (buses and custom van/truck). Everything else (new and second-hand) is imported. ---
**Author:** ![dofe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7ba0ec/32.png) [@dofe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dofe)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-countries-dont-manufacturer-any-cars-or-commercial-vehicles/775204/26 "2016-12-20T21:58:04Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Either way, the country where it’s manufactured still counts. A Ford manufactured in Canada is sold there and it’s a Canadian car. Globalization has blurred some of the lines of nationalism when it comes to automobile manufacturers. For example, the majority of Toyotas sold in the US (over 70%) are built in the US. Some Toyotas, like the Tundra, are not only built in the US, but were also designed by Americans designers. In fact, the Tundra is not available for sale in Japan, except in the unofficial grey market. Does that make the car/truck American or Japanese? Hard to say. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-countries-dont-manufacturer-any-cars-or-commercial-vehicles/775204/27 "2016-12-20T22:24:12Z")
> [@hibernicus](#): > > There are no cars manufactured in Ireland. Or, as one of the auto magazines once put it, “Who says stainless steel doesn’t corrode?” ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-countries-dont-manufacturer-any-cars-or-commercial-vehicles/775204/28 "2016-12-20T22:56:51Z")
Previous thread on the topic [Which large nations lack a domestic auto industry?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=522166) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-countries-dont-manufacturer-any-cars-or-commercial-vehicles/775204/29 "2016-12-21T10:22:36Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Israel isn’t listed either. The list is limited to non-military vehicles. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-countries-dont-manufacturer-any-cars-or-commercial-vehicles/775204/30 "2016-12-21T14:14:57Z")
> [@Urbanredneck](#): > > Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Finland. Denmark has [Zenvo](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zenvo_ST1#Company_history), though they don’t seem to be doing much at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-countries-dont-manufacturer-any-cars-or-commercial-vehicles/775204/31 "2016-12-21T16:01:47Z")
Angola gave it a try in 2001 in a joint venture with VW, but not surprisingly it failed due to the [usual corruption,](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancar) ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-countries-dont-manufacturer-any-cars-or-commercial-vehicles/775204/32 "2016-12-21T16:37:40Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > I was thinking about the classic autos actually designed and built in each country. > > Some of those brands are still made. But many autos are manufactured & sold in country’s that are actually foreign brands. > > Either way, the country where it’s manufactured still counts. A Ford manufactured in Canada is sold there and it’s a Canadian car. Yes practically speaking car making is a relatively bigger industry in Canada than say the US, in nominal final assembly output units of ‘anybody’s’ cars per capita. The top country by that measure is Slovakia, though only a tiny proportion of them designed by the locally hq’d K-1 Engineering. And there are a number of small strictly local outfits in Canada too. Requiring the manufacturer to be locally hq’d wouldn’t necessarily shorten the list of ‘vehicle making countries’ drastically since there are often small high end, racing, tech start up, truck or bus making local companies in countries where major global manufacturers also have mass market car assembly plants and where that’s most of the volume. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2016, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-countries-dont-manufacturer-any-cars-or-commercial-vehicles/775204/33 "2016-12-21T16:54:40Z")
There’s also the distinction between “manufacture” and “assembly.” BMW assembles cars in the US from (primarily) German-sourced parts. Toyota builds trucks in the US from US-made parts (as there’s no market outside North America for large pickups). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-countries-dont-manufacturer-any-cars-or-commercial-vehicles/775204.md?page=1)