Sri Lanka vehicle sales down 50% after Ditwah importers say, seeking penalty relief
COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s vehicle market has been swept away by Cyclone Ditwah, with sales plunging 50% as many customers are no longer in a position to go ahead with car purchases, President of the Ceylon Automobile Importers Association Prasad Manage said.
Customers in Kandy and many other areas are no longer in a position to complete purchases already initiated, he said.
Importers now face a 3% a month penalty on each imported vehicle that remains unsold for more than three months.
“When your house is flooded, you are no longer thinking of buying cars,” Manage said, noting that sales were down about 50%.
“Customers have come to us asking for their advances back. They are facing difficulties, so we are returning the advances,” Manage said, adding that although he did not have industry-wide statistics, most importers were facing the problem.
Claiming, “We are also victims of the Cyclone,” Manage noted that vehicle importers have sought relief from the 3% penalty, “We would like to have six months extension,” he added, explaining that the importers do not have the margins to pay the penalty as they are also paying interest on import loans, which are about 10%.”
Sri Lanka imposes various economic controls on the people, ranging from exchange controls to import controls, after macro-economists trigger external instability.
Car imports boosted tax revenues in 2025, but were already slowing, and prices were down, when Cyclone Ditwah hit
-economynext.com
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