In this country there is a Toyota diesel on every street corner - AutoReview.nl

I myself have been coming to Curaçao since 1985. The first time I was amazed. The climate was warm and dry, the sea water azure blue and crystal clear, the houses colorful and the cacti gigantic.

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As a car enthusiast, the large numbers struck me Toyotas and older Americans. Among the many pick-ups, there were a lot of copies of the Come on Brisa. A small utility car, based on the Mazda 1000/1300, the distant ancestor of the Mazda 3. You rarely saw European cars and when I thought I recognized an Opel Kadett C, it turned out to be a Chevrolet Chevette. Or a Maepsy, from the then unknown Korean brand Daewoo. And while the European market was dominated by hatchbacks, sedans drove around in Curaçao.

Kia has been active in Curaçao for 50 years

In the 1980s, Korean car brands were already active elsewhere in the kingdom. You can see a similar development in the Chinese. In 2015 I already spotted BYDs and Great Walls on Curaçao. At that time I only knew it from the internet. During my recent vacation it turned out that there were already a lot more. In addition, I came across a few Vietnamese Vinfasts against. Now you may think: hey, there are already many electric cars driving around on Curaçao! But no, among all those Chinese and the handful of Vietnamese there was not one EV. And that while the island with its small distances and not too high speeds is actually perfect for that.

A Toyota diesel on every street corner

Hybrids also shine in Curaçao - nowadays an independent country within our Kingdom - due to their absence. Even among the many Toyotas. In contrast, there is one on every street corner Toyota Hi-Lux pick-up - with diesel engine! European cars remain scarce, and the SUVs on the island are almost all large and mostly American, Japanese or Korean. Although you sometimes see a Renault (!) Duster or Volkswagen Tiguan passing by. Yet compact sedans still seem to make up the majority.

Cars could be a bit simpler

Our rental car was such a sedan. An 'exotic' Nissan Versa in our eyes - ugly and simple, but also cheap, smooth, economical and reliable. On the one hand, you wonder why we in the Netherlands - where you are only allowed 100 during the day - are having such a hard time with all those expensive, heavy and useless SUVs. On the other hand, my most recent trip to Curaçao has made me even more worried about the advance of the Chinese car industry. It is probably also unavoidable in the Netherlands, although they do not send us simple petrol models as front soldiers, but affordable electric cars.