AMMAN — Experts are
warning that the price of hybrid cars in Jordan are expected to rise
significantly at the beginning of next year — another effect of the economic
crisis resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, they say.
اضافة اعلان
Tariq Al-Tabbaa, head
of the General Association of Automotive Agents, Spare Parts, and Accessories
Traders, told
Jordan News that starting next year “there will be a 10 percent
increase in customs duties and taxes on
hybrid cars.”
Taken together with the
rise in prices of both new and used vehicles globally, “the big impact will be
on hybrid cars, and the demand for them will decrease,” Tabbaa said.
While in the short-term
the government will see an increase in revenues as a result of the increased
duties, “in the long run there will be a decrease,” he explained, as demand for
hybrids dries up.
In an interview with
Adel Qawasmeh, the owner of a car showroom in Jordan, he said that the
impending price hike on hybrid cars “has become known to everyone.”
Qawasmeh noted that the
increase in price starts from the vehicles’ country of origin. As previously
reported by
Jordan News, the price of importing used cars — which make up 75 percent of
all imported vehicles — is expected to rise by as much as 30 percent by the end
of next year due to the unprecedented demand for used cars in the US, Jordan’s
No. 1 source for used cars.
He explain that this
demand creates delays in shipments and difficulties in allocation. All these
problems, together with the pandemic’s impact on the automotive industry in
general, have contributed to the increase in car prices. “Add to this the
annual 5 percent progressive tax approved by the Cabinet solely on hybrid cars,”
Qawasmeh added.
“For now, the price
hike is almost acceptable as the price hike has nothing to do with the customs
tax,” he explained, concluding that “next year it will not be like that.”
When asked whether
people are likely to turn away from hybrids, Qawasmeh said that there was “a
contradiction in people’s attitudes. Global technology is strongly oriented
towards hybrid cars,” which Jordan does its best to keep pace with, including
by being a signatory to many environmental agreements.
“I think that there
will be many who will continue to buy these cars,” he said, but contended that if
people aren’t “able to handle the new prices, they will most likely go to buy
used (gasoline) cars.”
Jordan News asked
Tabbaa what the likely impact of increased car prices would be on the
government and the local economy, he explained that price increases usually
drive greater demand for electric or gasoline cars, which are usually cheaper.
“Overall demand for
cars is very good, and ... it is constantly improving,” he said, attributing
this success to dialogue the sector maintains with the ministries of industry
and finance, as well as the Customs Department.
Jordanians make up “98
percent” of the sector, Tabbaa stressed. “Reducing unemployment is currently one
of the most important goals, and we are working to continue increasing the
volume of investment (in the sector),” he said.
Tabbaa highlighted that
“the car trade does not stop at the sale of the car,” but includes after-sale
services such as maintenance, spare parts, and tires, among others.
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