Where you build your branches and factories plays an important role in the early growth of your company. Time is also a key factor in where you place your operations.

The following tips pertain to city-based maps.

When it comes to building branches before World War 1, you want to look for cities with at least 100,000 people in them. You'll also want the city's per capita to be within 10x of the vehicle price you're selling. Meaning if your vehicle's sales price is $2,000, the city's per capita should be at least $200.

Most of a city's population falls within 5x of the per capita value. And a household is generally only willing to spend their yearly income on a new vehicle. However, in the early years of the automobile industry, wealthier folks were more willing to spend greater amounts of money on this new technology. As cars become commonplace, this willingness to overspend declines. That decline happens around 1908.

The Wealth and Per Capita suggestion limit you to North America and Western Europe at the start of the game. You can still run a successful company outside of these two regions, but it is more difficult to do.

The restrictions loosen up in this era. Any city in North America and Western Europe with a population of 50,000 or more can support a branch. Try to keep per capita within 5x of your vehicle sales prices.

Larger cities outside of North America and Europe are viable in this era too. A high population can make up for a lack of income. Cities with more than 500,000 people making within 8x per capita of your vehicles should be feasible.

Many cities that were barely viable before can now support your business operations. Every city in North America and Europe can sell vehicles. And most cities in Asia and many in South American with greater than 100,000 people and within 5x per capita can support branches.

Except for extreme cases in Africa, every city in the game can support branches.