Pre-budget price hike stirs car sales
Wednesday, 28 April 2010
Munima Sultana
Sales at the city's car showrooms have increased like in the other years ahead of the budget, scaling up prices of all kinds of cars that demonstrate that prices may go up further in the next fiscal.
Showroom officials said sales of all brands of 1300 CC, 1500 CC and 1800 CC reconditioned private cars have increased during the last three months.
They said buyers have been showing interest in all models of G and X corolla, X Assista, Fielder, Allion and Premio to purchase them before the next budget. The demand for more than 2000 CC is less due to high duty imposed on it in the last fiscal.
They said due to increasing demand of these brands, prices of all kinds of reconditioned vehicles have gone up from Tk 100,000 to Tk 200,000 since the prices in February.
"The trend of car sales in the recent months is quite usual because of the budget," said an official of a show room in the city's Paltan area.
He said demand for old model of all categories of private cars has also increased on ground that the government is likely to stop import of more than three years old cars from next June.
However, buyers alleged price manipulation of all models of cars.
"We were confused about the prices of different car-ages and models like Fielders, X, G or X Assista only a month before. It could be hard to assess one model against another and one brand against another," said Sohel, a banker, at a showroom in Kakrail.
He said the car importers and dealers just started using the card of budget to increase prices of all kinds of vehicles.
Bangladesh Recondi-tioned Vehicles Importers and Dealers Association (BARVIDA) said every month 400 to 500 cars are imported in two shipments, which increases to 1000 to 1500 cars ahead of the budget.
BARVIDA officials said the prices of different cars also increase with tax having ups and downs against Yen.
President of Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicles Importers and Dealers Association (BARVIDA) Habibullah Dawn blamed the situation on the absence of a long-term stable tax policy on car import and said the market experiences this kind of unstable situation every year due to the reason that every year the government revises the car import taxes.
The BARVIDA president said hike in prices of all kinds of private cars is usual because of high demand from the country's buyers, for which importers have also to place high demand on Japanese sellers during the period.
"The car we used to buy for US$ 10,000 a few months back is now being imported at $12,000," he said
The BARVIDA president demanded a uniform car import tax policy for at least three years to make the sales of cars stable.
The sector paid Tk 14 billion in revenue after selling small cars in the first nine months till March after importing 19,800 cars of 1500 CC and 1800 CC. Only 43 cars of over 2000 CC were imported during the period as the government has imposed high taxes on import of those kinds of vehicles.
Sales at the city's car showrooms have increased like in the other years ahead of the budget, scaling up prices of all kinds of cars that demonstrate that prices may go up further in the next fiscal.
Showroom officials said sales of all brands of 1300 CC, 1500 CC and 1800 CC reconditioned private cars have increased during the last three months.
They said buyers have been showing interest in all models of G and X corolla, X Assista, Fielder, Allion and Premio to purchase them before the next budget. The demand for more than 2000 CC is less due to high duty imposed on it in the last fiscal.
They said due to increasing demand of these brands, prices of all kinds of reconditioned vehicles have gone up from Tk 100,000 to Tk 200,000 since the prices in February.
"The trend of car sales in the recent months is quite usual because of the budget," said an official of a show room in the city's Paltan area.
He said demand for old model of all categories of private cars has also increased on ground that the government is likely to stop import of more than three years old cars from next June.
However, buyers alleged price manipulation of all models of cars.
"We were confused about the prices of different car-ages and models like Fielders, X, G or X Assista only a month before. It could be hard to assess one model against another and one brand against another," said Sohel, a banker, at a showroom in Kakrail.
He said the car importers and dealers just started using the card of budget to increase prices of all kinds of vehicles.
Bangladesh Recondi-tioned Vehicles Importers and Dealers Association (BARVIDA) said every month 400 to 500 cars are imported in two shipments, which increases to 1000 to 1500 cars ahead of the budget.
BARVIDA officials said the prices of different cars also increase with tax having ups and downs against Yen.
President of Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicles Importers and Dealers Association (BARVIDA) Habibullah Dawn blamed the situation on the absence of a long-term stable tax policy on car import and said the market experiences this kind of unstable situation every year due to the reason that every year the government revises the car import taxes.
The BARVIDA president said hike in prices of all kinds of private cars is usual because of high demand from the country's buyers, for which importers have also to place high demand on Japanese sellers during the period.
"The car we used to buy for US$ 10,000 a few months back is now being imported at $12,000," he said
The BARVIDA president demanded a uniform car import tax policy for at least three years to make the sales of cars stable.
The sector paid Tk 14 billion in revenue after selling small cars in the first nine months till March after importing 19,800 cars of 1500 CC and 1800 CC. Only 43 cars of over 2000 CC were imported during the period as the government has imposed high taxes on import of those kinds of vehicles.