Did you know that there are currently over 1 billion cars on the planet, and that number climbs every single day! With so many of us taking to four wheels every day of our lives, whether in our own cars or in rental cars, we thought we’d share a few facts about cars we think you’ll want to Google – just to make sure:

• Going green! Around 80% of the materials used to manufacture a car are recyclable.
• 25% of all cars on the planet come from – yup, you guessed it – China!
• BMW started out manufacturing airplanes. The multi-national motor corporation’s logo is actually meant to represent a propeller set against a blue sky.
• The largest limo on the planet weighs a staggering 22,670 kilograms, features three lounges and a bar, and can transport around 40 people!
• In the United States, grand theft auto is committed every 45 seconds.
• Hate waiting at red robots? You spend around 5 months of your life waiting for them to turn green.
• If you wanted a radio in your car in 1922, you could buy one for a crippling 200 US Dollars. However, many saw the radio as a distraction and some even tried to get them banned.
• Toyota Corolla. Chances are you’ve either owned one – or driven one at some point. Every 40 seconds, somewhere in the world, someone is buying a Corolla.
• You’ve seen the gorgeous Hyundai Tucson, but did you know that they offer a special The Walking Dead edition? It even comes with a zombie apocalypse survival kit!
• The BMW M5’s engine is soo quiet that engine sounds are actually played through the vehicle’s sound system so that drivers can hear their vehicle’s performance.
• Love your VWs? The German automobile manufacturer loves naming their cars after – wait for it – wind! Passat is German for ‘trade wind’, Jetta literally means a ‘jet stream’, and Polo is German for ‘polar winds’.
• In Sweden, the traffic fine you receive is proportionate to your income. So, when a Swedish billionaire was caught travelling 290km/h, they slapped him with a $1,000,000 speeding ticket!
• On a daily basis, Toyota manufactures over 13,000 cars. This is staggering when compared to Ferrari, who manufactures only 14 cars per day.
• In the year 1900, 40% of all cars were steam-powered, 38% were run on electricity, and only 22% actually utilised petroleum.
• Chevrolet, a subsidiary of General Motors, was named after a Swiss-born racer and the company’s co-founder, Louise Chevrolet.
• Cell phone use while driving contributes to over 1.6 million road accidents each year.
• The three-point star Mercedes Benz logo symbolises how the automobile manufacturer strives to make transportation easier on land, water and in the air.
• Why did BMW have to recall their GPS systems installed in their cars? German men refused to take directions from a female!
• According to the experts, you can expect to be involved in an average of 4 vehicular accidents throughout your lifetime.
• Studies have shown that people who take public transportation are, on average, around 3kgs lighter than people who drive their own cars.
• Mechanophilia can be defined as a person’s attraction to cars and other mechanical objects. In some countries, getting too cosy with your car is a criminal offence.
• Ever heard of Brain Driver? You will soon! This is a German-made system of driving a vehicle using nothing but your thoughts.
• That new car smell we all know and love is actually a toxic composition of over 50 volatile organic compounds.
• The last car to be manufactured featuring a cassette player was a 2011 Ford Crown Vic.
• Many are of the opinion that Ford’s Model T, built in 1908, was the first production car ever made – but this is not true. It was Carl Benz from Germany who, in 1886, built the three-wheeled internal combustion Benz Patent-Motorwagen that cost around 150 US Dollars new at the time.