In recent years, you may have noticed the proliferation of platforms for selling cars (often sports or luxury cars) on social networks. Volkswagen Golf, Audi S3, Range Rover Velar… All these used models are often presented at slightly lower prices compared to similar models from the official network.
Rest assured, there is no fraud in all of this, or at least if it is done right. These companies simply benefit from a rather interesting lever for both themselves and their customers.
The system is already well established
Indeed, these companies specialize in importing used vehicles from foreign countries (very often from Germany), where most cars are cheaper than in France, in particular due to registration taxes.
However, when these cars are imported into France and therefore registered in our territory, they are subject to two fines (weight and CO2), the scale that operated in the year of their initial circulation is taken into account. The only difference is that they all win began to decrease by 10% per year.
Will imported used cars always be “more profitable”?
But to collect more taxes, the government wants to give itself the means to activate all the levers, and it seems that it is interested in vehicles from abroad. Really, the finance bill of 2024 plans to reduce this percentage to 5%. Therefore, a 2018 model car imported in 2024 will be eligible for a penalty reduction of only 35% compared to 70% previously.
For the 2018 model, this should not change much, as the fine, compared to today, was “affordable”, given the fact that it did not exceed 10,500 euros.
On the other hand, in the future for a 2024 model (where the maximum fine will be increased to 60,000 euros, not forgetting the weight penalty), for example, imported in 2027, there will always be an interest to import it from a financial point of view, but it will much less noticeable than before.
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Source: Auto Plus
Robert is an experienced journalist who has been covering the automobile industry for over a decade. He has a deep understanding of the latest technologies and trends in the industry and is known for his thorough and in-depth reporting.