Kazakhstan’s Car Market Goes Chinese & The Rise of Local Language Apps

In this episode of the Steppe Ahead podcast, Jonas Thorsten and Thomas talk about the Kazakh car market and how Thorsten’s viral video highlighted the rapid change and what it means for German cars. They also discuss the absence of Kazakh on Duolingo, the rise of local AI-based apps like Alim and growing interest in learning Kazakh, and the ongoing debate over Latinization versus Cyrillic.

00:00 Welcome to Steppe Ahead

00:46 Today’s Topics Preview

01:39 Viral Kazakh Car Market

06:08 Why Chinese Cars Win

10:37 Prices and Models Compared

16:10 Local Production and Investment

18:37 Old Cars and Fleet Changes

21:03 Language Apps in Central Asia

26:21 Kazakh Learning Boom

30:14 Alphabet Latinization Debate

31:56 Episode Wrap Up and Next Topics