The Limousine Line

An official state car is a car 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 and the United Kingdom. It also may serve as an automotive symbol of the head of state and their country. Part of the criteria for an official state car is to have adequate security, capability and stateliness for its duty. A limousine, executive car or sport utility vehicle is usually selected. Due to the high security risk for the passengers, these vehicles are often heavily secured and protected. Vehicles may be armored by the manufacturer or an after-market specialist. 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, Russian President's driver is a ranking officer of the Federal Protective Service, and the British Prime Minister is driven by a Specialist Protection officer from the Metropolitan Police Service. For state visits and international conferences, the host country usually supplies the ground transportation and security personnel. However, a few countries transport their official state cars to the destination. In countries that have indigenous 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 and built by General Motors, with Lincoln, manufactured by Ford Motor Company and Chrysler vehicles having been used in the past, representing the three major American manufacturers. Soviet leaders used the custom-built limousines by the ZiL company, and though the Russian Presidents have switched to the Mercedes-Benz S-Class due to ZiL's decline after the Dissolution of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Putin has commissioned a new official state car from the national automotive establishment, which was delivered in early 2018. 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 rides 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 are represented in Germany's pool of vehicles available for use by state officials. 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 exclusively uses 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. In some cases state cars may bear standard number plates; in others special or no plates are used. The following information lists some state cars and their users of sovereign states and other territories; the list is likely to be out of date in some cases as incumbents and cars change.
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