Way back in 1983 (the earliest record I have), Nouvelle-Calédonie had a small car market of just under 3,200. The big players were French, of course, and Italian. The top five were, along with market share:
1 Renault 692 21.7%
2 Peugeot 462 14.5%
3 Fiat 163 5.1%
4 Autobianchi 155 4.9%
5 Ford 148 4.6%
Total 3186
Things changed rapidly through the decade, and three years later the top five were:
1 Peugeot 810 20.9%
2 Renault 630 16.3%
3 Rover 285 7.4%
4 Ford 232 6.0%
5 Fiat 226 5.8%
Total 3875
I was surprised to see Rover so high, and that without Land Rover included. In 1987, Rover including LR was nearly 11%!
By 1989, the market was over double the figure a mere six years earlier. The top 10 by then were as follows:
1 Peugeot 1817 26.2%
2 Renault 1272 18.3%3 Ford 504 7.3%
4 Fiat 402 5.8%
5 Rover 344 5.0%
6 Citroen 247 3.6%
7 BMW 245 3.5%
8 Opel 230 3.3%
9 Suzuki 198 2.9%
10 Toyota 195 2.8%
Total 6933
European brands dominated this small market, and still do even today albeit not to the same degree.
I would do more flashbacks but data for this era is hard to find. Thanks to ISEE, statistics for the 1980s is still available.
Pic: http://www.productioncars.com