What do the world’s most powerful people drive?

Carmudi checks out the rides of this planet’s top 5 most influential people!

They reek of power and riches. And they have no qualms in boasting that with their muscle rides. Be it a car tantamount to a jetliner or a car brand that shows pure patriotism, you cannot afford to miss what the top 5 most powerful people in this world ride. And while we are at it, why not take a little detour into their humble beginnings too. Carmudi, the fastest way to buy and sell your car online, has created bite-sized automotive CVs of the world’s most influential people in the field of business, politics, finance and even religion today.

Here’s the lowdown:

Vladimir Putin “the Gray Cardinal”

• His first car was a Zaporozhets, cheapest car in the market equivalent to the price of 1000 bottles of Vodka
• Owns a fleet of Russian cars: Lada Kalina priced between P222,144 ($4,972) and P223,395 ($5,000), the Niva priced at P187,652($4,200), and the 1956 ivory-coloured Volga GAZ-21 with price ranging from P201,055($4,500) up to P446,790($10,000) depending on its condition.
• His non Russian-made car collection consists of a stretched armoured Mercedes-Benz S 600 Guard Pullman priced at P47,449,160 ($1.62 million) along with his Mercedes-Benz Gelandewagen that comes with a P19,390,711 ($434,000) price tag.

Barack “No Drama” Obama

• Prior to becoming the President, Obama owned a 2005 Chrysler 300C V8 engine that received loads of criticism due to the lack of fuel efficiency
• Switched to the more environmentally friendly 2007 Ford Escape Hybrid that was later on auctioned off.
• His state car, nicknamed “The Beast”, is an 8 ton monster with an estimated price of P67, 018,588($1.5 million). With doors weighing as those on a Boeing 757 jetliner, it is equipped with night vision, blood bank, a gas tank that won’t explode upon direct hits and is said to be bulletproof and bomb resistant!

“Daddy” Xi Jinping

• Often referred to as the paramount leader of China, Xi Jinping in a way endorses Hongqi, China’s only domestically manufactured luxury car used as the official government state car (and also open for sale to the people of the Republic)
• Hongqi L5 limousine priced at a jaw-dropping P35,743,247($800,000) and filled with all the goodies a communist leader would love, hit headlines during Jinping’s state visit to New Zealand, where the car apparently showed up before the Presidential crew landed
• Weighing around 6950 kg, the Hongqi L5 limousine comes loaded with oriental history visible in its jaded door handles, fine leather interior and hand-carved wood trims.

“The cold calling” Pope Francis

• Auctioned his Fiat Panda 4x4 late last year to raise money for the poor, right around the time he was building bathrooms for the homeless in the shadows of St. Peter’s Basilica. While the previous Pope’s car was auctioned off at a princely sum of P10,901,690 ($244,000) the buckets of money the new one drew were never made public.
• His daily operational car is a 1984 Renault 4 Hatchback that already has 300,000 kms on it.
• Has also been seen in a blue-colored Ford Focus 2nd Gen, priced just above P714,864 ($16,000) at an informal gathering located at Castel Gandolfo, a small town outside of Rome.

“Mutti” Angela Merkel

• Known to alternate between brands to use as her state car. Reason? To show neutrality and full support to all German car manufacturers in general.
• Her 1990 Volkswagen Golf was auctioned off on Ebay back in 2012 and almost reached a bid of P8,779,752(€130,000) where the auction was later dropped as “none of the bidders had serious interest”. However, it finally went to the highest bidder for P686,509 (€10,165).
• Merkel arrived at the EU summit in Brussels late last year with a ‘007’ number plate on her Audi A8 at a time when speculations were circulating that the US were spying on her.

So if you are in search of your own epic ‘statecar’ or just want to find the most suitable vehicle at an attractive price, get it on www.carmudi.com or simply download the Carmudi app to find it on the go.

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