YOURSAY ‘The problem is with the AP holders and not the manufacturers. Remove the APs and you will find car prices dropping.'

'Perodua and Proton cheaper than Honda in Thailand'

SpongeBob: There are three types of duties on cars, namely import duty, excise duty and sales tax. Excise duty is the major contributor among the three.

I am really puzzled by the statement by Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Hamim Samuri that abolishing the excise duty for imported cars would not guarantee a reduction in car prices.

Paul Warren: Why would the price of cars not reduce when excise duty is reduced?

Answer: There will be a corresponding increase in the Approved Permit (AP). That increase goes into the pockets of Umno cronies and indirectly to Umno's war chest.

Kit P: Economics 101 - if you have open competition, none of the car manufacturers will be able to enjoy artificially high prices, not for long anyway.

Just compare prices in neighbouring Thailand or even Langkawi and you will see the obvious impact of excise duty on car prices.

Fateh: 1) The bulk of our car prices is the excise tax or sales tax. 2) Car manufacturers have to get approval from the government on the price they wanted to sell. 3) Car manufacturers have to pay the rent seekers (APs).

Conclusion: Malaysians will have to pay through their nose for cars as long as you have this government.

Intheair: When an AP is free for anyone to apply, competition will ensure that car prices drop. This can be done at a stroke of a pen, but of course BN cronies may not be able to survive in a competitive world.

Malaysians need to get hefty car loans to pay for our overpriced cars in order to feed these parasites.

Swipenter: Please go and compare an apple with an apple, an orange with an orange. Why don't you compare the Proton Perdana 2 litre with a Honda 2.0, a Toyota Camry 2.0, a Nissan Teana 2.0 or even a C-Class Mercedes 2.0?

Joker: Myvi and Proton are also cheaper than Honda, Toyota and Nissan in Malaysia. Why are people still buying those Japanese brands? Because they are of different quality.

Why does the ministers prefer to be seen in a Mercedes or BMW rather than in a Perdana? Because of quality and prestige.

Why is BN losing Malaysian votes? Because ministers make stupid remarks that everyone can see through, like this one.

Wira: Don't talk nonsense and blame car manufacturers. The fact is that car prices are already much cheaper in other Asean countries like Thailand and Indonesia.

The problem is with the AP holders and not the manufacturers. Remove the APs and you will find car prices dropping.

Hamim, if want to compare, compare the same model and same brand. After all, we are in the Asean Free Trade Agreement area.

Will Malaysians prefer Perodua over Honda since you mention that the Perodua is cheaper? Will the Thais prefer our Proton Persona over Honda City as both are similarly priced in their respective countries?

We cannot compare two products just by engine capacity alone and forget about quality and performance. That's why we have Malaysians willing to pay RM40,000 more for a City than for the Persona.

Haveagreatday: Let's give credit where credit is due - yes, it is good if Myvi and Proton are cheaper than a similar capacity Honda.

But this is as it should be - if Myvi and Proton cannot be cheaper than an established premium brand like Honda in our neighbouring countries Thailand and Indonesia, they might as well close shop.

Onyourtoes: Hamim said that even if the excise duty was abolished, car manufacturers could still decide whether to reduce or maintain the current car prices.

Did this deputy minister go to school? What do taxes have to do with cost of production and profit margin of manufacturers?

Hello, if taxes are reduced or abolished, the price of goods will immediately come down, no ifs or buts, unless you are thinking of abolishing the taxes and passing them on to the car manufacturers for their enjoyment. Is there a limit to nincompoopism?

Hamisu: Just remove the excise duty first. Let the manufacturers decide whether they want to maintain their current price (which is inclusive of excise duty).

When there's no demand, what price will the manufacturers set? Besides, what's hindering their sales volume right now is the excise duty. Once the price reaches affordable range, sales volume naturally picks up.

I'm paying a lot for my income tax. I doubt whether you understand that I have to take a loan to pay the excise duty. To add insult to injury, I am also paying interest to banks just to pay for excise duty.

CiViC: A deputy international trade minister with no economic logic whatsoever. Why would car manufacturers want to maintain high prices?

When it does not affect profitability at all even if they drop them? Don't they want to be competitive? Whoever drops the price will get a big chunk of sales first. That's economic logic.

Jittyjitty: The public are paying for Umno cronies to make wealth beyond their dreams. These are the rent seekers.

It takes nine years to pay off a loan with a minimal down payment, imagine the interest the bank makes and the toil the poor man has to go through to pay off the loan.

After the nine years, he is left with a heap of junk that probably useless and so has to take another loan at a higher price to pay a higher installment - for another nine years.

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