Bucharest confuses me. Walking around the city you see more luxury cars (mostly BMWs) per capita than almost any other European capital. But the median wage is 1000 Euros. None of the locals I've asked (friends, family, etc.) ever have a solid answer, so maybe the internet can help.
* While the median wage is a 1000 euro there are a lot of people that make a lot less than that ( < 500) and also quite a few that make a lot more.
* Expensive cars are the number one status symbol in Bucharest and Romania. People will often still live with their parents or in a run down apartment, as long as they can drive through the streets with an expensive car, so their budgeting priorities are a bit different from what you expect.
* There is a lot of unreported income and tax evasion in Romania as well as criminal activity, so on top of the high income inequality mentioned above, there are also a lot of people with high incomes that never figure into statistics and such but can afford luxurious cars.
Not all of them. I'd say that the majority are just second hand purchases.
Of course, they can't afford to really maintain them, so once a major component breaks down... they're probably out of luck and have to sell the car for parts or something.
Luxury cars are not that expensive if they are very high on your list.
Tunisia is poorer than Romania, and if you visit the streets, you'll see tons of Mercedes, BMWs, Porsches... The local just want to have one and that is the reason.
Funny, I was about to post the exact same remark about Tunisia.
As a tunisian, this always confuse me. the average salary is WAY less than $1000, the tax on imported cars is very high, yet the number of luxury cars is too damn high.
Is it really more luxury cars per capita, or simply a higher proportion of the overall car fleet (poorer people being very unlikely to have cars at all, and richer people having low costs of living in other areas)?
I didn't even realise Lexus made 4x4s until I visited Phnom Penh.
