People In Myanmar Want Cars And They Want Them Now

Myanmar, which you might know as Burma, is not what you'd call the richest in the world. An average income is around $200 per year and that is not a typo. But affluence is entering the region, and with affluence come automakers.

The Asian nation emerged from years under military rule in 2010 when elections were allowed and new leadership took over. Now, the economy has opened up a bit and with it, automakers are setting up distributors and taking business away from the used car dealers.

Still, there is a long way to go. There are 2.3 million registered vehicles in Myanmar, but 300,000 (aka 0.3%) are cars. The rest are motorcycles. And since the income is still so low, it's tough to afford a car. Even a Toyota Hilux is $78,500, which is a considerable amount of money if you're making $200 a year.


Myanmar's countryside also doesn't really have any roads, which is an issue. But as the country grows and becomes more prosperous, we'll see more car sales since right now there are 38 cars per every 1,000 people. In the USA, there are 800 cars per every 1,000 people. That's a huge opportunity, especially for a lower end automaker. And as Top Gear showed, driving in Myanmar looks like fun.

Tata, maybe this is where you should try and sell the Nano.