UzAuto Motors reacted to the article titled “UzAuto Motors selling Malibu-2 cars at inflated prices” published by Kun.uz.
The report said the company imports 2,900 Malibu cars a year from South Korea, but the price of these cars has not been disclosed.
Earlier, it was mentioned that a deal worth about $63.5 million was concluded in the annex of the contract, which was shared by the Telegram channel davletovuz. So, will UzAuto Motors buy each car from GM Korea Company at $21,891 (since the total contract amount is $63.5 million)? This has not been specified.
In addition, according to the statement of the “domestic auto giant” (as the company calls itself), the revenue from the sale of expensive cars partially covers the production costs of cheaper models and maintains the price increase. This information means that the manufacturer, which has been engaged in localization for years, has not been able to reduce the cost, could not fulfill the tasks in this regard. That is, the cheapest models - Cobalt, which is sold at $11,200, and the Lacetti-Gentra, which is sold at $11,800 - may actually be more expensive.
Moreover, consumers have many objections to UzAuto Motors cars, not only about their prices, but also about their range, reliability, safety and environmental friendliness.
The company also emphasized that there is no manufacturer in the world that provides 100% localization of its vehicles.
“Regarding the import of components, it should be understood that production process of the car is the most high-tech and expensive, and when the necessary raw materials are available, it is necessary to guarantee a high demand for the feasibility of producing certain spare parts,” the company said in its official statement.
How many percent of the spare parts needed for cars produced in Uzbekistan are localized, and how many are imported? No information was given on this either.
The company also claimed that the Chevrolet brand’s website in Korea listed prices “without taxes”, and the author encountered “a marketing ploy”. It should be noted that although it is written that the prices on the site are approximate in nature, there is no explanation that they do not include taxes. This, in turn, shows that the claim of UzAuto Motors should be investigated.
It should be noted that UzAuto Motors stated that it will pay VAT and disposal fee when importing Malibu from Korea, but did not comment on the import duty. This confirms that this monopolist company is exempted from the car import duty through secret documents.
In this way, ordinary consumers remain deprived of the exclusive privileges granted to the “domestic auto giant”. In the world market, there are many other cars that can compete with Chevrolet Malibu in terms of convenience and are close in price, but entrepreneurs who want to import them face huge financial and bureaucratic obstacles.
Kun.uz correspondent addressed the press service of UzAuto Motors with a number of questions about the aforementioned issues 3 days ago, but until now there has been no answer.
It should be recalled that from January 1, 2019, the import duty for foreign cars with a price of more than $40,000 was canceled, but from January 1, 2020, these duties were restored. Since January 2020, UzAuto Motors has started importing and selling Trailblazer, Equinox, Traverse and Tahoe cars from abroad.
In February 2022, President Shavkat Mirziyoyev ordered to direct more cars into the domestic market. Also, until May 1, the task of completely eliminating the queues in the purchase of cars was assigned. But as of today, the number of queues is about 98,000.
