Uzbeks spent over $100M on foreign cars for Q1 2019

n January-March 2019, Uzbekistan imported cars worth $106.4 million, which is almost 2.2 times more than in the same period last year, Trend reports with reference to Uzbek media.
In addition, the country spent $131.4 million on the purchase of trucks and $213.6 million on various components for cars.
Among the brands of the cars, 60 percent of all purchases fell on the share of Chevrolet; the second place (14 percent) was occupied by LADA cars (VAZ), and Daewoo with 10 percent share took the third place.
It is noteworthy that for the whole year of 2018, the value of imported cars amounted to $320 million.
The sharp increase in the number of imported cars is most likely related to a new procedure for customs clearance of premium cars introduced in the country from January 1, 2019. It covers new cars (no older than two years from the date of release) worth $40,000 and above, which are now subject to reduced rates of customs duties. As the import duty is not applied to these cars, the owner only needs to pay both excise tax and VAT in the amount of 20 percent.
Thus, the aggregate rate of customs payments will be 44 percent of the value of the imported car. For example, if the car costs $40,000, then according to the new rules, about $17,600 will have to be paid for its customs clearance.
In the first quarter of 2019, 59,500 cars, 990 buses and ISUZU trucks, 317 buses and MAN trucks and 414 KamAZ trucks were produced in the country. During the same period, the import of trucks increased by only 51.6 percent.