Nice grab! On an international scale I think 1/18 will continue to be the preferred scale for serious collectors - and there are a LOT of international diecast collectors out there!

Mattel will continue to make 1/18 Ferraris for the international market although they may not continue to make American style rods and customs for the U.S. market. Companies like GMP will always produce 1/18 rods - their niche is in the well-detailed, very limited edition cars.

In the U.S. I suspect our love of 1/24 springs from the heydays of kits and promos of the '50s and '60s, and our fondness for 1/64 springs from HW and MB, etc. Internationally, 1/43 and 1/18 rule. Typically the internatiional 1/43 scale cars are "curbside" models - well detailed, but with no opening features (hood/engine/doors, etc.) - while the 1/18 are loaded with exquisite detail. As you all know I've been scaling back a lot on small cars, and focusing more on carefully selected 1/18 scale cars - ones that are most "meaningful" to me. The level of interest and conversation steps up when I have friends/family over and they can open and close features on the 1/18ths - a lot more than showing them a 1/64.