The Bhutanese Leading the way.
According to most vehicle dealers in the country, the vehicle sales has not picked up since the outbreak of COVID-19. Vehicle dealers suffered in 2020 as the pandemic delayed car deliveries, and reservations were annulled, which resulted in a sharp drop in vehicle sales. This year, as well, dealers have seen a decline in the sale of vehicles.
According to the General Manager of Bhutan Hyundai Motors, Pema Lodey, the company was able to sell around 700 vehicles last year, and this year’s sales have also decreased.
“We could sell around 500 vehicles this year. First, the whole month of January was under lockdown, and secondly, our vehicles came through Phuentsholing and were stranded there for more than a month, resulting in a decrease in vehicle sales,” he said.
He said that the bookings for vehicles are coming in, and customers are not the only ones experiencing difficulties in obtaining cars, but manufacturers are also having difficulties in obtaining vehicle components and parts.
“We are more than two months behind schedule because we did not receive vehicles. We have just now received the cars that we were supposed to receive by July. Our vehicles are arriving late, thus all of these factors are piling up and causing a decrease in vehicle sales,” he said.
He added, “We are giving services, but we are having difficulty obtaining spare parts for cars. It is not as easy as it used to be. We try to find spare parts from other car dealers as well, but these are tough to come by. Also, we are not importing vehicles from Korea these days because we have to pay both duty and sales tax, which doubles the price, but when we have a definite order, we do take it up. But nowadays, we are promoting electric cars since the government is also pushing for it.”
Bhutan Isuzu Motors is also in a similar predicament. The dealer could sell approximately around 300 vehicles this year, compared to around 600 last year.
Meanwhile, 132 Toyota vehicle units were sold by State Trading Corporation of Bhutan Limited last year. The company was able to sell 93 units till September of this year. Since tourism was shut down in 2020, the COVID- 19 has affected their vehicle sales. For example, STCBL is the leading dealer for Coasters and HiAce buses in the tourism industry, and sales fell substantially in 2020, and the same slump in sales is recorded this year.
Last year, tourism industry bought 22 coaster buses, and only 15 coaster buses were sold this year with discounts.
From June 2020 till this year, STCBL had zero sales for luxury vehicles such as LC Prado and Land Cruiser.
Currently, STCBL receives bookings for its hot selling vehicle, the new RAV4 Hybrid car. An official from Ugen Auto also said the company sold around 20 trucks last year, and sold roughly 50 trucks this year. However, the sales figure has dropped when compared to the sales figure prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.
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