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During a period of severe boredom, I was having a look at the best-selling cars per country and I noticed something interesting, namely that the market seems to favour vehicles that are locally produced: i.e Renault for France, Fiat for Italy, Volvo for Sweden, Volkswagen for Germany, and so on.
My suggestion is to introduce a 'national bias' into the game, meaning cars are more likely to sell in their country of origin. This would both help the player when starting out and provide more of a challenge when attempting to expand into foreign countries.

And maybe a reduction in said bias if you open a factory in that nation?

Good shout. Australia's best seller was the locally-produced Ford Falcon for many years.

Also the bias is only valid as long as you can keep making cars of good repute, see British Leyland in the 70s for a case in point.

I'm not so sure. Ladas are still among the top selling vehicles in Russia. They can't be that much better than they were if they're still not being sold in the rest of Europe.

Yeah, but... That's Russia

Perhaps a "nationalism" or other cultural variable needs to be considered to modify effects of import etc. Tariffs influencing costs etc.

Definitely going to be considered in the calculations, this has the nice effect that you will have a somewhat easier start but face more challenges as you expand. That's a great gameplay mechanic right there. We're probably going to simulate that through a significant bonus to brand awareness in the home region.

shit russian car gonna sell day in russia, for m0th3r ru55ia

I will be a little like today in China, European car makers have body options that are made just for the China market.
Because they sell better if they do, compared to the body style we here in Europe prefer.
(hint: extra long leg room in the back seat, not just in the top models)

China wants extra long leg room in the back? Why? They're only 170cm tall! How long could their legs be?

Wanna feel like VIP's, maybe?

Nah, they need it to throw all their trash onto the floor ;s (heard several stories about that from people who experienced that first hand)
Though, the VIP feel is more the reason why, I guess

LOL y'all funny!!!

Awesome suggestion - of course this would only matter for the end production, not for the parts, right? So you might buy a italian motor - from your own or a competitors production line - and build it into your let say German design. Maybe even just put it all together, make a label on it an thats it

The engine market would be separate, yes... that's a manufacturer-only thing which people will not care about.