The Toyota Corolla, often referred to as the most popular car of the world and also Bangladesh, is sold on average once every 40 seconds, and that trend has continued over the last 40 years.
Carmudi, a vehicle marketplace, created a Toyota Corolla Index based on listing data to understand the wide range of Corolla price differences globally in order to investigate the costs of purchasing this standard car in twenty emerging markets in Africa, Asia, Middle East and Latin America, in which Carmudi is established.
They analyzed the data over the last six months which included over 17,000 Toyota Corolla listings. The most frequently listed used Corolla worldwide was from 2010; however several countries in which Carmudi operates have older cars; for instance, Tanzania’s newest Corolla model was from 2008. In fact, the mean year of production was 2005, which makes sense as Carmudi is known for its used cars.
To compare the prices across borders, Carmudi examined the average prices of select used Corollas for each country. The criteria for selection were cars built between 2005 and 2011 with between 45000 and 110000 km on the odometer. This criteria was chosen to provide a range of Corollas accessible in all countries, while reducing the disparities between older and newer used vehicles.
Based on the Economist’s light-hearted Big Mac Index, the Carmudi Corolla Index serves as an at-a-glance tool to understand the wildly ranging price difference in emerging markets. From import taxes, to domestic production not meeting demands, to rising market prices, the cost of the world most popular car is anything but standard.
The most surprising finding was the car prices have absolutely no correlation with the wealth of each country. For instance, a used Toyota Corolla is three times the price in Vietnam (GDP per Capita of $1,910) then the much wealthier UAE (GDP per capita of $43,049). Here in Bangladesh, the average used Toyota Corolla costs 1,376,387 Bangladeshi Taka, making it the third most expensive Carmudi country to purchase a Corolla.
About APACIG
The Asia Pacific Internet Group is a joint venture of Rocket Internet and Ooredoo. The group’s network consists of 13 e-commerce and online marketplace companies, operating across 15 countries. Since it was founded in 2014, APACIG has become the leading online platform in Asia, building top internet companies in the region.
