Automobiles in Yangon bearing plate numbers below alphabet (သ) are currently having good sales while high-end automobiles had seen nearly no purchasers since April, auto traders say.
However, the high-end automobiles sales are expected to rise soon, they say.
“Automobile companies are buying ahead because old automobiles with alphabet (သ) have to be returned to the government soon under the car exchange policy. The selling price of such automobiles are about K8 million and eight cars are sold per day,” U Thein Tun, an automobile dealer, said.
“Automobiles under 1300cc and 4WD automobiles are in good demand now. Toyota Probox is mostly used for business and also for taxi services,” Dr Soe Tun, owner of Farmer Auto, said.
“People with low income choose to buy automobile under 1300cc. But we hope the high-end automobiles will pick up pace soon,” he said.
“Auto market saw a jump in sales before Thingyan. Most popular brands were Honda, Toyota Probox and Belta. Other brands saw few purchasers. Models under 2011 had the greatest demand,” said U Aung Min, an automobile dealer from Hanthawaddy automobile station.
The prices of automobiles under the “replace old with new” policy was around K8.2 million and in the auctions market they were sold for about K6.8 million, he said.
Following the liberalisation of automobile imports the vehicle market is cooling down, traders say. Automobiles manufactured by ASEAN countries are allowed to be imported with lower tariff. The prices of these cars are expected to fall down more, traders said.
