PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

Car owners and sales people in Afghanistan are struggling to come to terms with the changing whims of personal taste in this conservative country. Car sales are growing fast, however customers are now averse to buying vehicles with the number 39 in the licence plate. The number has been linked to a notorious figure in iran's criminal underworld, known for his expensive car and which bears the number 39. The man is now nicknamed number 39 and as his notoriety has grown, so drivers in afghanistan's capital Ka
March 1, 2012 Read time: 1 min
Car owners and sales people in Afghanistan are struggling to come to terms with the changing whims of personal taste in this conservative country. Car sales are growing fast, however customers are now averse to buying vehicles with the number 39 in the licence plate. The number has been linked to a notorious figure in iran's criminal underworld, known for his expensive car and which bears the number 39. The man is now nicknamed number 39 and as his notoriety has grown, so drivers in afghanistan's capital Kabul have been rushing to divest themselves of any vehicle bearing the same number. Car salesmen have been unable to sell vehicles bearing the number 39, despite dropping the price. Officials are able to sell new replacement licence plates to owners of vehicles bearing the offending number 39.

Related Content

  • Crashed, again
    March 23, 2016
    A valuable Pagani Zonda supercar has been crashed for the second time in the UK. The car was being driven back from its annual MOT test by the bodyguard of the current owner. However the driver lost control of the high-performance vehicle and crashed it into a fence. In court the driver explained that he had been shifting his seat for better comfort, when his foot slipped onto the accelerator pedal. However this account differed from his original statement to the police in which he claimed he had swerved to
    Read More
  • Deciding whether to buy new or used equipment
    May 20, 2015
    Customers can face the choice of buying used or new equipment – Dan Gilkes writes. The decision to buy either new or used equipment is almost as old as the construction plant market itself. However some of the reasons for choosing between the two might well be changing, to meet new demands from customers across the world and to cope with a changing supply base. Ever more stringent emissions legislation in Europe, the US and Japan, rapidly developing emerging markets that want the productivity of the latest
    Read More
  • Western construction firms operating in developing nations face extra challenges
    January 9, 2024
    Contracting firms carrying out road construction works in developing nations can face extra challenges - Gordon Feller reports
    Read More
  • Modal shift in city transportation
    March 4, 2016
    The TV footage of the recent heavy smog in Beijing and other Chinese cities has shown clearly why attitudes to personal transportation need to change around the world. Vehicle transportation is a major source of air pollution, with the particulates from older generation diesel engines being particularly dangerous to health.
    Read More

Highlighted Content