Gents,

What are you views on the recent declaration by FG to increase import duty on tokunbo cars to 70% of the car value (minus depreciation). Also does this mean its going to be effective 1st Jan 2014

Source: http://www.punchng.com/news/prices-of-imported-cars-to-rise-by-60/
http://allafrica.com/stories/201310030101.html

It is a welcome developnent. It will grow our economy and create jobs.

makzeze: It is a welcome developnent. It will grow our economy and create jobs.

How did you arrive at this conclusion. I think it is just a sign that the Political class are not in tune with the realities in this country. Do they think Nigerians just love to buy Tokunboh cars The poor state of the economy is the reason why tokunboh cars are common, and rather than address the cause, they are addressing the symptoms. Clueless Government!.

What I would think is let the federal govt put their auto factories in place and have their cars sell for their so-called N1.5M. Lets see who will go for tokunboh when / if you can get a brand new for that price (if its possible).

Am really curious now cos i have two cars on the way from US, can any one advise on the actual kickoff date as some are saying its January first while i could also hear about end of February if its the January then am in deep soup. my view on this should hav been that more time is given so people will not fall victim of this policy, at least additional one month.

makzeze: It is a welcome developnent. It will grow our economy and create jobs.

1.The tokunbo market creates far more employment than brand new car plants can ever create.

2.The Toks market creates employment for all classes of people be it rich or poor,literate or illiterate but the brand new car plants will only enrich the rich further & will employ mainly the highly skilled & expert graduates.

3.Toks is more affordable to all be it the rich,poor or middle class.There are sound toks cars of 600k but brand new from 1.5M.

4.Toks have cheaper parts & the parts market creates much employment e.g Ladipo.You can buy a toks shocks for about 20 to 30k but the Japan original version of the same shocks is from 100k to 200k.

Fajzay: What I would think is let the federal govt put their auto factories in place and have their cars sell for their so-called N1.5M. Lets see who will go for tokunboh when / if you can get a brand new for that price (if its possible).

Just because you can afford doesn't mean everyone can.70% or even more of Nigerians may only be able to afford cars below N1M.A lot more in that figure can only do cars of like 600k.

The policy affects both Tokunbo and brand new imported cars. It favours those who will bring in the cars in parts and assemble here.

In my opinion, it is not bad a policy.

Anomnity:
Just because you can afford doesn't mean everyone can.70% or even more of Nigerians may only be able to afford cars below N1M.A lot more in that figure can only do cars of like 600k.

Anomnity, you didn't get the point I was trying to pass across. The FG claims the reason for this policy is to discourage tokunboh that people would be buying new cars for N1.5M. From my own view, they need not raise custom duties to achieve that ... Just let things be as it is now, bring your factories and let your brand new car sell for N1.5M, the people would be the ones to make their choice. Afterall, if I want to buy a tokunbo for like 1.5M and same car costs N1.5M, or just slightly more, why wont I buy the brand new. Its called competition!!!. You get what I mean.
This same thing they did in Abuja. Banning commercial buses in the name of there will be a rail project and city buses that would service the masses. Guess what, No rail in view and limited buses that couldn't even serve 20% of the workforce was bought leaving a whole lot of people stranded at the buss stop especially during closing hours. Rule of thumb should be 'Bring / establish the credible alternative before aborting / discard the old routine"

Fajzay:
Anomnity, you didn't get the point I was trying to pass across. The FG claims the reason for this policy is to discourage tokunboh that people would be buying new cars for N1.5M. From my own view, they need not raise custom duties to achieve that ... Just let things be as it is now, bring your factories and let your brand new car sell for N1.5M, the people would be the ones to make their choice. Afterall, if I want to buy a tokunbo for like 1.5M and same car costs N1.5M, or just slightly more, why wont I buy the brand new. Its called competition!!!. You get what I mean.
This same thing they did in Abuja. Banning commercial buses in the name of there will be a rail project and city buses that would service the masses. Guess what, No rail in view and limited buses that couldn't even serve 20% of the workforce was bought leaving a whole lot of people stranded at the buss stop especially during closing hours. Rule of thumb should be 'Bring / establish the credible alternative before aborting / discard the old routine"

ok bros, you're on point.I fully agree.

So when is the Kick off for the increment?

Its only in naija we do things backward. To me the idea behind the policy is to generate more revenue without the backlash. You are banning a product without available alternative. Are the factories on ground not to talk of producing. It will take nothing less than 5 years to build a vehicle assembly plant let alone a manufacturing plant. Its purely a revenue generating gimmick. Clueless and his goons know that Nigerians are bound to make more noise with just an announcement of a tariff hike. Why not hide under a development policy? Where are the so call manufacturers, where is the power to run the plants, where are the support factories to the the main plant. You don't just create an industry on paper and it works just like that. You need all kinds of inputs, material. No car plant would locate in a country without first having a major component manufacturer on ground. Do we have credible manufacturer of common headlamps bulb? A lot goes into car manufacturing or assembling. Is it generator that they would take to run the plants. ITS IS PURELY A REVENUE GENERATION GIMMICK.