Soon: US cars on Macedonian market

[Dimko-piperkata]

Import of US cars into Macedonia will soon be allowed. The Macedonian government’s decision on the matter is expected to be published in the Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia.

The Macedonian governments takes measures designed to improve economic standard of citizens, and one such measure is allowing purchase of cars on the US market, where prices are a lot more favourable than European, says finance minister Zoran Stavreski.

He points out that this way, cars that meet all standards related to gas emission and environment protection will be imported since the US market is very sophisticated.

http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/17508/45/

maybe they means tanks

[Risto the Great]

To be honest, I don't think many USA cars are good enough for world consumption.
Most are not fuel efficient and have some pretty basic engineering.
Unless someone wants a Hummer, Corvette or Camaro, I don't really see the point.

[Phoenix]

To be honest, I don't think many USA cars are good enough for world consumption.
Most are not fuel efficient and have some pretty basic engineering.
Unless someone wants a Hummer, Corvette or Camaro, I don't really see the point.

Risto, the US auto industry has undergone quite a drastic change in recent times...most companies are taking a "world car" approach to their model lineups...with emphasis on engineering excellence and miserly fuel consumption in their small cars...building cars that can be sold in every corner of the planet, whether thats in Europe, China or South America...the industry is far too competive and the American 'gas' guzzlers of the past are becoming the dinosaurs of the industry...

[Voltron]

Risto, the US auto industry has undergone quite a drastic change in recent times...most companies are taking a "world car" approach to their model lineups...with emphasis on engineering excellence and miserly fuel consumption in their small cars...building cars that can be sold in every corner of the planet, whether thats in Europe, China or South America...the industry is far too competive and the American 'gas' guzzlers of the past are becoming the dinosaurs of the industry...

At least we agree on this one. I can tell you one thing since I live in Europe. Ford cars here are considerably better in quality than their American counterparts. As a matter of fact Ford is now importing the European models to the States if thats not ironic enough. Chevrolet here are horrible, in essence its a Daewoo that had been bought by Chevrolet for the European Market.

The gas guzzlers of the past were nice for its time. I will miss them, the old Camaros, Trans-AM, Grand Nationals, Mustangs and Chargers were classic muscle cars. The new ones are nice, but still I would prefer the original.

For years now due to cost cutting practices from these car companies they are losing their character and charm. Its a real shame.

[Rogi]

Does that mean some of the BMW's manufactured in the US, will be hitting the Macedonian market?

Or is this purely meant to be GM's, Ford's, etc? That said, I don't mind the newer Mustang's.

[Voltron]

I would assume you would be getting BMW the same way Greece does. Through the European Market. Unless BMW's import them from the US which is something I havnt heard. Do you know if Macedonia has strict custom laws ? We get really hammered if we try to bring in a car from outside Greece. They tax the hell out of you here.

How much is a car in Macedonia ? Are loans readily availble for people ? Are they expensive ? A Mustang here can go over 45K Euro easy depending what edition you get ! In the US its less than 30K USD. I cant for the life of me see how they justify the costs here.

[julie]

At least we agree on this one. I can tell you one thing since I live in Europe. Ford cars here are considerably better in quality than their American counterparts. As a matter of fact Ford is now importing the European models to the States if thats not ironic enough. Chevrolet here are horrible, in essence its a Daewoo that had been bought by Chevrolet for the European Market.

The gas guzzlers of the past were nice for its time. I will miss them, the old Camaros, Trans-AM, Grand Nationals, Mustangs and Chargers were classic muscle cars. The new ones are nice, but still I would prefer the original.

For years now due to cost cutting practices from these car companies they are losing their character and charm. Its a real shame.

For once, I agree with you, I am a fanatic for the old cars, they will never be able to produce mass market vehicle plastic crap, give me the old V8's any day, incidentally my brother has had his Valiant in the Street machine magazine , and the charger used to run in the quarter mile drags under 10 seconds.
Love the XY GT phase 3 shaker. That is the best car ever produced, and original ones go for half million Australian dollars now !

[Voltron]

For once, I agree with you, I am a fanatic for the old cars, they will never be able to produce mass market vehicle plastic crap, give me the old V8's any day, incidentally my brother has had his Valiant in the Street machine magazine , and the charger used to run in the quarter mile drags under 10 seconds.
Love the XY GT phase 3 shaker. That is the best car ever produced, and original ones go for half million Australian dollars now !

^ Yes !

We may agree on more things Julie, who knows. Take Care

[Rogi]

Well, if you see an X5 or an X6 in Macedonia, if it isn't the most recent model, then it came from the US, since they're only manufactured in Spartanburg (deceiving name isn't it), USA.

[Voltron]

Well, if you see an X5 or an X6 in Macedonia, if it isn't the most recent model, then it came from the US, since they're only manufactured in Spartanburg (deceiving name isn't it), USA.

Didnt know that about the X-models. Only the filthy rich drive those cars here in Greece. Even though they serve no purpose in the city due to the fact we have no comparable US infrastructure ( parking, streets, space ) they only drive them to flaunt their wealth. For rural areas ok, but still, those X6's are huge bumblebees's to be driven here. Nice touch on the last comment.

[fyrOM]

I am a fanatic for the old cars, they will never be able to produce mass market vehicle plastic crap, give me the old V8's any day, incidentally my brother has had his Valiant in the Street machine magazine , and the charger used to run in the quarter mile drags under 10 seconds.
Love the XY GT phase 3 shaker. That is the best car ever produced, and original ones go for half million Australian dollars now !

Hahaha cant take the SA out of the girl…you have more car enthusiasts there.

Just wait for whatever it is Macedonia will be selling quid pro quo….I wonder how many tons of capsicums for a new car…but it might help shore up usa support for Macedonia…just a case of the big using the little but that’s life.

[Prolet]

The cars from the US must be up to 10 years old in EU its 15 years i think, the good news now is that all the customs clearances are going to be done via internet and they are not as strict now as they used to be. The old laws were that you had to pay for the container within 30 days (Customs) where as now there are other ways of payment including a mortgage on something thats valuable enough.

If you want to import a car the cheapest way to get it is via Bulgaria by far, i think as of this year the Macedonian Government cut all customs taxes for cars in the EU, its much cheaper to buy and import a car now, when i was in Stari Kraj i saw alot of cars from America with American Number Plates too people bring them over.

I got no idea how Greece doesnt even follow the simple EU laws, why is it so expensive to import a car outside of Greece? Greece is an EU country they should be paying no taxes if somebody goes and buys a car from Bulgaria or Germany, the only reason why i can see this happening is corruption and the Greek people are suffering for it, and the Macedonians too in Egejska Makedonija.

I wouldnt mind a Cadillac with the rogoj on it, it would be awesome.

[Voltron]

The cars from the US must be up to 10 years old in EU its 15 years i think, the good news now is that all the customs clearances are going to be done via internet and they are not as strict now as they used to be. The old laws were that you had to pay for the container within 30 days (Customs) where as now there are other ways of payment including a mortgage on something thats valuable enough.

If you want to import a car the cheapest way to get it is via Bulgaria by far, i think as of this year the Macedonian Government cut all customs taxes for cars in the EU, its much cheaper to buy and import a car now, when i was in Stari Kraj i saw alot of cars from America with American Number Plates too people bring them over.

I got no idea how Greece doesnt even follow the simple EU laws, why is it so expensive to import a car outside of Greece? Greece is an EU country they should be paying no taxes if somebody goes and buys a car from Bulgaria or Germany, the only reason why i can see this happening is corruption and the Greek people are suffering for it, and the Macedonians too in Egejska Makedonija.

I wouldnt mind a Cadillac with the rogoj on it, it would be awesome.

Im not up to date about EU laws but the only thing that I can think of is if it was that easy then everybody would be doing it here. It would basically shut down the car sales in Greece as we know it. You do have an opportunity to bring in anything you want from outside Greece. Its only one chance to do it and its when someone moves to Greece as a permanent citizen. You can bring in anything you want in a container tax free, but it has to be within 2 years ( if I remember well ) and must not have a lean on the title. At the time I had a lean on my Ducati 750SS and left it back for one of my brothers to use. I also had no money to bring in any car and the 2 years expired. I lost my chance. So you can do it, but you just have to be prepared.

Another outdated law here is the diesel issue. Today modern diesel cars are cleaner and more efficient than the regular benzin cars. Aside from this fact they are still banned to be driven in Athens. In rural areas its ok, but for the city they do not allow it aside from very few exceptions (Taxi's for example).

We have a lot of laws here that protect interest groups and union groups and that is why we are in this mess. Just now they passed a law to open up "closed" professions such as pharmacies and sure enough they went on strike. Too much democracy here where eveyone can do what they want on a drop of a dime. This is our problem and how we got here.

[fyrOM]

We have a lot of laws here that protect interest groups and union groups and that is why we are in this mess. Just now they passed a law to open up "closed" professions such as pharmacies and sure enough they went on strike. Too much democracy here where eveyone can do what they want on a drop of a dime. This is our problem and how we got here.

Sounds more like collusion for protectionism…ie racketeering…maybe its called democracy in some parts…oh I don’t know maybe the birthplace of democracy…it keeps the world turning spread it around like manure.