Grey market irks Bentley, asks for lower duties

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Grey market irks Bentley, asks for lower duties

Published: 4 Oct 2012 at 00.00
Newspaper section: Business

Bentley Motors Ltd, the British maker of luxury cars, is urging the Thai government to curb the prevalence of grey imports.

"We should create a fair and easy system so we can all operate under the same rules. We get a lot of markets asking us why we can't be cheaper, but it's not us but taxes and duties. We're abiding by the rules, and people are saying we're too expensive," Geoff Dowding, the regional director for Asia, the Middle East and the UK, said during a recent stop in Bangkok.

He said the Southeast Asian market is quite small for Bentley due to high duties of up to 328% on luxury cars, and there are about 2,000 unregistered luxury cars plying Thailand's roads.

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moody
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Discussion 1 : 04 Oct 2012 at 11.531
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There are many benefits from lowered import duties: more tax collected (because of more sales and reasonable prices), wider choice for consumers and easier entry of new eco-friendly technologies. Local car assembly won't be affected when Toyota or Mitsubishi has plants producing over 300,000 cars annually. The reason why the government refuses to lower tax is because politicians are involved in the grey market - under-declaring prices and avoiding full tax treatment just to enrich their pockets.
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Grey market irks Bentley, asks for lower duties | Bangkok Post: business