Official state car

An official state car is an automobile used by a government to transport its head of state or head of government in an official capacity, which may also be used occasionally to transport other members of the government or visiting dignitaries from other countries. A few countries bring their own official state car for state visits to other countries, for instance, the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, South Korea, Germany and Japan. It also may serve as an automotive symbol of the head of state and their country. An official state car must have adequate security, capability and stateliness for its duty. A limousine or other high-end vehicle is usually selected.
Due to the high security risk of the passengers, these vehicles are often heavily secured and protected. Vehicles may be armored by the manufacturer or an after-market specialist. In this article the term "armored car" invariably means a reinforced civilian vehicle, not a military vehicle. When carrying an important passenger, state vehicles may be surrounded by a motorcade consisting of police or military personnel. The vehicle's driver might also be from the law enforcement or military pool. The driver of the United States presidential state car is an experienced agent from the Secret Service, the British prime minister is driven by a Specialist Protection officer from the Metropolitan Police Service, and the Canadian prime minister is driven by a Protective Services officer from the RCMP.
In some cases state cars may bear standard number plates; in others special or no plates are used.
In countries that have domestic automobile manufacturers, the government will usually commission one of the national automakers to provide a state car, or allow several to provide cars for an official state fleet. It is considered an honour for a car manufacturer to be selected to provide a state car for their respective country and a demonstration of the confidence of a government in their national industry. For example, the president of the United States currently uses a Cadillac with special undisclosed security features commissioned by the United States government, built by General Motors. Historically the president also used Lincoln, manufactured by Ford Motor Company and also Chrysler vehicles having been used in the past, representing the Detroit Three of American manufacturers.
Soviet leaders used custom-built limousines made by the ZiL company, and though the Russian presidents switched to the Mercedes-Benz S-Class due to ZiL's decline after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Putin commissioned a new official state car from the national automotive establishment, which was delivered in early 2018.
In 2018 the Government of South Korea commissioned a highly modified Hyundai Nexo SUV to serve as the official state car of South Korea.
The emperor of Japan uses a Toyota Century, the prime minister of Italy uses a Maserati, the prime minister of Malaysia uses a Proton Perdana, the president of the Czech Republic is driven around in a Škoda Superb, and the British monarch uses a Bentley. Members of the British Royal Family are driven in Jaguars, though other makes may be used in other Commonwealth realms.
The president of France can choose from cars manufactured by Renault or PSA Peugeot Citroën, and all major German manufacturers (Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen Group) are represented in Germany's pool of vehicles available for use by state officials. The prime minister of India uses a Land Rover Sentinel high security edition as Jaguar and Land Rover are owned by Tata Motors, an Indian automobile company though they are manufactured in the UK.
For countries without major indigenous manufacturers, an official state car may be purchased from a suitable manufacturer in a nation with strong economic and diplomatic ties. Canada typically aims to exclusively use state cars manufactured by the Detroit Three, many of which are made in Canadian factories, with the United States and American car manufacturers having a historically strong relationship with Canada. These companies have a well established and rich manufacturing history dating back to the 1920s in Ontario.
The following provides a list of state cars and their respective users, belonging to various sovereign states and territories around the world. Please note that this list may be subject to change and could be outdated in some instances, as both the individuals holding official positions and the vehicles themselves are regularly updated.
An international museum of official state cars exists in France.