Cambodia 2016 Photo Reports: The cars of Siem Reap

Toyota Prius leaving the south gate to Angkor Thom temple – January 2016.

After Phnom Penh, our second and last stop in Cambodia is in Siem Reap, the second largest city in Cambodia and the gateway town to the world heritage site of Angkor Wat. Even though the region is extremely touristy, the level of wealth is markedly lesser than that of Phnom Peng, as evidenced by the even higher ration of used imports in town and the tiny amount of new vehicles.

Angkor Wat temple, picture by Sam Garza

In the four days I spent in town, I only spotted eight new gen Hilux Revo, two new gen Ford Ranger and one new gen Toyota Avanza. It would appear the Hilux leads the new car market in Siem Reap by a large margin contrary to Phnom Penh.

Toyota Hilux in Siem Reap, Cambodia – January 2016

The only new car showroom I could spot around town was a Ford one though, but it went into full renovation mode on the second day of my stay here so there weren’t any salespeople to speak with. Around it could however be spotted a lineup of new Ranger including the Wildtrak top-end spec, as well as one new gen F-150 coming directly from the U.S. and one F-150 Raptor with… Chinese licence plates!

Toyota Camry near Angkor Wat temple – January 2016

The Toyota Camry is more than ever dominant in the streets of Siem Reap, not as new but imported as used from the U.S. The 20% of car parc ratio it commended in Phnom Penh should increase even further here and could reach 25 to 30%.

Toyota Highlander in Siem Reap – January 2016

As it was the case in Phnom Penh, the Highlander I is also very popular, as well as the RAV4 II and the Lexus RX I. The Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger display a strong heritage here with the past three generations are present in high numbers.

Toyota Prius with original U.S. license plates in Siem Reap

A proof that a large part of these Toyotas imported in Cambodia come from the U.S. was in plain sight in one of the Siem Reap streets leading to the Angkor Wat area: a couple of Toyota Prius II for sale with their original U.S. license plate as pictured above.

Ford Ranger in Siem Reap – January 2016

The Wuling dealership I spotted in Phnom Penh had not generated any models in ‘real life’ in the streets there, but it was different in Siem Reap where I sighted one Rongguang Mini Truck (micro pickup) and one Rongguang van. An interesting push by Wuling to expand in Cambodia.

Thai Nissan Navara and U.S. Nissan Frontier in Siem Reap – January 2016

In the pickup aisle, the Nissan Navara comes third in frequency in Siem Reap after the Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger and a fascinating fact is that their population is split between the Frontier coming from the U.S. (the large majority) and the Navara coming from Thailand. It is in Siem Reap, and not Phnom Penh, that I spotted the first and only new gen Thai-built Navara of this trip.

Ford F-150 and Ranger Wildtrak in the Siem Reap Ford dealership – January 2016

 Ford F-150 Raptor with Chinese license plates in the Siem Reap Ford dealership

Cambodian Army Lexus LX in Siem Reap 

Ssangyong Istana and Maxus V80 at Siem Reap airport.

The Ssangyong Istana is the most popular van to transport tourists to the world heritage temple area, even though as soon as you leave Siem Reap, you immediately enter tuk tuk territory.

The Siem Reap Photo Report continues below with 10 additional pictures.

“Cadillac Tuk Tuk” in Siem Reap – January 2016