President of the T&T Automotive Dealers Association (TTADA) Visham Babwah is warning that millions of dollars more in foreign exchange will be spent as a result of the new foreign used vehicle policy which lowers the age limit for importation of gasolene vehicles to four years.
"Common sense would dictate that a six-year-old car is cheaper to buy than a four-year-old vehicle," he told the T&T Guardian.
"A dealer will have to cough up between US$2,000 to US$5,000 to buy a four-year-old car. This in effect means that the used car industry will require more than 50 per cent more foreign exchange than we used last year."
Babwah, who said changes were made to the policy without consultation with industry stakeholders, described the new measures as draconian.According to the TTADA, registered foreign used car dealers have an annual quota of 13,500 vehicles and are not responsible for most of the 40,000 cars that are licensed in the country every year.
"The fact is that used car dealers pay less than new car dealers and also import a lot fewer motor vehicles than new car dealers," the group said in an emailed statement.
"It is evident that the used car importers cannot create any significant impact on usage of foreign exchange.
"Moreover the decrease in the permissible age of importation will now mean that we will be purchasing a more expensive vehicle that would require the usage of even more foreign exchange."
The group is calling for imposition of a quota system on the new car industry who they contend are the largest importers of vehicles in T&T.
Last Friday, Trade and Industry Minister Paula Gopee-Scoon announced a new policy for the foreign used industry which bars the importation of gasoline-powered vehicles more than four years old and restricts buyers importing cars for personal use to doing so every four years instead of every three years.
The minister also said a comprehensive review and audit of the existing policy is in progress.The review, which includes discussions with relevant stakeholders, will be concluded by March 31.