The cars of choice for the world’s most powerful
Being a world leader requires a huge amount of travel. From politicians making their way to meetings with other governments to members of royal families travelling to royal engagements – all this travel calls for the finest vehicles. Top of the range transport appeals not just for travelling in style, but also to ensure passenger safety.
At Bill Plant Driving School, while we’re most concerned with safely getting new drivers onto the roads by providing learners with the best instructors and driving lessons, we also have a love for the finest and most impressive cars. There are few cars more majestic than the ones that carry the leaders of the world, and so we wanted to find out which cars and manufacturers are the most popular with politicians and royalty around the globe.
The favourite cars of world leaders
When it comes to the type of car most commonly used by world leaders, we were able to identify some clear winners.
- BMW 7 Series – 17 out of 299 cars
BMW is known as a luxury car manufacturer, and the 7 Series is no exception. The series was originally launched in 1977 and has seen five model generations since then. The sleek and stylish 7 Series is the most popular amongst world leaders, accounting for 17 of the 299 cars studied. Fans of this model include King Philippe of Belgium and New Zealand’s Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern.
The favourite car manufacturers of world leaders
While some world leaders have a variety of car manufacturers making up their garages, others favour one specific manufacturer. So which are the most popular overall?
- Mercedes-Benz – 67 out of 299 cars
Accounting for 67 out of the 299 cars we looked at, Mercedes-Benz is far and away the most popular amongst world leaders. Cambodia’s Prime Minister, Hun Sen has four at his disposal while Portugal’s President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has three.
Royalty’s favourite car manufacturers
While Mercedes-Benz is the most popular overall, what is most popular for members of the world’s royal families?
- Rolls-Royce – 11 out of 73 cars
Few car manufacturers evoke luxury as much as Rolls-Royce. From Queen Margrethe II of Denmark to King Felipe VI of Spain, there is no car more popular with royalty than the Rolls-Royce.
Presidents’ favourite car manufacturers
While some countries have royal families, others have presidents at the top of their state leadership. So which car manufacturers are the most popular amongst this class of world leaders?
- Mercedes-Benz – 40 out of 142 cars
The most popular presidential car manufacturer is Mercedes-Benz, accounting for 40 out of 142 cars, from the president of India, Droupadi Murmu, to Germany’s Frank-Walter Steinmeier.
Prime Ministers’ favourite car manufacturers
While there are fewer prime ministers than there are presidents on our list, we also wanted to find out which cars were most popular with these world leaders.
- Mercedes-Benz – 15 out of 69 cars
Like the presidents, prime ministers favour Mercedes-Benz, accounting for 15 out of the 69 cars belonging to these politicians. The prime ministers who own this type of car include Bangladesh’s Sheikh Hasina and the Netherlands’ Mark Rutte.
The value of the cars of world leaders
You would be hard-pressed to find many of the exact cars that carry our world leaders as a huge number of them are customised or specifically designed with several security features. However, if you want to emulate world leaders with a car to match, how much would it set you back?
- Rolls-Royce Phantom – from £351,486
The Rolls-Royce is most popular amongst royalty, but if you wanted to own your own Rolls-Royce Phantom, it could set you back more than £350k. This huge price tag reflects the luxury and regal look of the car, making it perfect for the kings and queens of the world.
Methodology:
We began by looking at the official state cars of leaders around the world according to Wikipedia. This list is not exhaustive as some world leaders may have vehicles in their garages which are not included within our source list.
We only reviewed the cars which are listed as those that the leaders travel in, rather than looking at their whole fleet which carries their security teams.
To find the value of these cars, we looked at average prices according to Autocar. As such a large number of the listed cars are bespoke models, prices weren’t available for many of these cars.
