In OTL Eastern Bloc cars were constrained from updating / replacing their range of cars, due to either government / comecon decree or lack of funding, etc.
While Poland (or much of the Eastern Bloc albeit at Poland's expense as punishment) could have benefited from accepting Marshal Plan aid is one potential POD, what other Eastern Bloc White Elephant projects would in retrospect have been better off being butterflied away with the funding instead largely being diverted to developing their own motor industry in order to gain some hard currency?
One example of a Eastern Bloc White Elephant project that comes to mind would be East Germany with the unbuilt Stendal Nuclear Power Plant, the construction of which apparently cost some 18 Billion or so before it was halted after German Reunification. Whereas some 5 Billion or so of that money could have instead been used to build a new plant for Wartburg at Eisenach, along with Dacia / Renault sourced engines being used to replace the old Two-Stroke engine (the Renault units apparently being some 1000DM cheaper than the later Volkswagen engines).
While Poland (or much of the Eastern Bloc albeit at Poland's expense as punishment) could have benefited from accepting Marshal Plan aid is one potential POD, what other Eastern Bloc White Elephant projects would in retrospect have been better off being butterflied away with the funding instead largely being diverted to developing their own motor industry in order to gain some hard currency?
One example of a Eastern Bloc White Elephant project that comes to mind would be East Germany with the unbuilt Stendal Nuclear Power Plant, the construction of which apparently cost some 18 Billion or so before it was halted after German Reunification. Whereas some 5 Billion or so of that money could have instead been used to build a new plant for Wartburg at Eisenach, along with Dacia / Renault sourced engines being used to replace the old Two-Stroke engine (the Renault units apparently being some 1000DM cheaper than the later Volkswagen engines).