Turning in old cars

The Road Transport Administration announced that vehicles manufactured in Myanmar Auto Manufacturing Zones and registered for more than a decade can be exchanged for auto import licences.

The programme for exchanging old vehicles for auto import licences has been halted since February 27 due to widespread malpractice in the issuing of import licences.

At present, only those with the licences can legally import new cars. At present, without installment services, car dealers simply import cars on order.

Auto brokers claimed that cars imported from abroad were turned in for new licences, and some people made profits between Ks 500,000 and Ks 2 million by exchanging their cars.

They also added that an import licence is worth Ks 5 million. About 2,000 zone-made cars were turned in this year as of February 27.

As part of the government's aim to eliminate old cars from streets, the ban in auto imports was first lifted in 2011.

According to the Customs Department, since then it has collected more than Ks 1 trillion from vehicle imports.

Since then, a number of 382,264 vehicles have been imported. The department collected a total of Ks 1.015 trillion from the imports: Ks 514.3 billion as import duties and Ks 510.2 billion as commercial tax.

Dr. Tin Aung, the advisor for the Commerce Ministry, recently said that most of the imported vehicles are registered in Yangon. Despite growing complaints on traffic condition in the largest commercial city, he said there will be no change to the vehicle import policy.

It was reported that vehicles manufactured in Thailand are enjoying high demand. Most of them were imported through the Myawaddy border gate.

An auto dealer noted that Toyota Hilux is among the most popular. Though the price has gone up by Bt15,000 recently, orders are brisk. In Myanmar, the cost of a new Toyota truck including custom duty is about Bt600,000. The duty is worth about Bt100,000.

Other truck models in high demand include Nissan Navara and Mazda BT-50.

The demand for smuggled vehicles has dwindled, the dealer added, thanks to stricter regulations as well as ease of imports via the Myawaddy-Mae Sot Friendship Bridge.

It was reported that there have been some sales of illegally-imported vehicles like Honda Fit, CRV, Edix, Odyssey, Crossroad and Insight. Though, it is apparent that the unlicensed market has deteriorated, according to information from those involved in the Myawaddy border trade markets.

"My car cost me US$3,277 and now its price dropped," said a dealer who requests anonymity. "Only small cars like Honda Fit, Probox, Success, which cost fewer than $1,873 see a lot of buyers."

On the other side of the Thaung Yin (Moei) River, there are car storage gates where a purchaser can buy from a large selection of vehicles. Although the unlicensed market in Myawaddy is stagnant, many such unlicensed cars are being purchased in Thailand and delivered into Myanmar.

http://www.information.myanmaronlinecentre.com/turning-in-old-cars/