MD of Vehicle Dealership says tax reduction on vehicles is needed

The Director of Star Garage is calling on the government of St Vincent and the Grenadines to mirror the policies of some other Caribbean islands and reduce the total tax burden to up the purchase of hybrid vehicles.

Joshua Da Silva, who is a veteran in the automotive industry, particularly hybrid vehicles, said these vehicles are already expensive due to their advanced technology.

He therefore believes that the government should reduce the hefty cost by lowering taxes on the vehicles.

Da Silva told SEARCHLIGHT that the biggest problem Vincentians face today in relation to hybrid vehicles has to do with the policies which make these vehicles more expensive to import than is the case in other Caribbean countries.

He said that while some progress has been made to reduce taxes on these green vehicles, the total tax burden remains significantly higher than in countries like Barbados, where the tax is 10 per cent, or St. Lucia and Grenada, which have maintained zero per cent duties on many clean-energy models.

“…hybrid vehicle across the region is much cheaper than SVG. If you look at the electrical vehicle, electrical sales in Grenada with the zero-rated, has gone to over 115 units so far in Grenada, over 120 in St Lucia. This is total market.”

Da Silva added that if the government desires Vincentians to lean towards the greener vehicles, they must further adjust some policies.

“But you just have to be patient…it’s something that the world is actually taking on; the whole Caribbean, in Trinidad, Jamaica, everyone has a subsidy for it.”

He said the policies here are not appealing to make any foundational, fundamental impact towards the market environment.

“It does not attract consumer desires. The government doesn’t make any significant stride in actually putting more units on the road to say…we have this amount of hybrids, this amount of electrical vehicles.”

Da Silva said that big progress was made when duty was reduced in 2023 as there was previously nothing on the books for hybrid vehicles.

“…and having it now is good, but it’s not sufficient enough for the policy to be effective. That’s the problem…having it then is great knowing that nothing was done before, but having it now makes it much better for me to actually convince the government that this isn’t working and we have to make changes to mimic the actual policy of Grenada, St Lucia, Barbados.”

Da Silva said he has been fighting for this initiative over the past years and hopes that concessions, or some sort of relief will be granted to incentivise hybrid vehicles now that they are becoming increasingly popular.

“…I hope that it will happen, but let’s just be honest…this will take a lot of convincing to push for. If we look at it…the hybrid and electrical vehicles in St Vincent, the concession only came in 2023, whereas the other Caribbean Countries have been doing this in 2017.”

Despite trailing behind its sister islands, Da Silva said this is a big step for SVG and he is hopeful that adjusting the current policies will be given serious consideration.

“Because this is trending in the world. If you look at…the UK, the United States, South America, most of them- everyone has a rebate or a concessionary fund.”

Da Silva also said a number of Vincentians want to buy hybrid vehicles but he believes the investment “does not make any sense” due to the costs.

“But literally, this is the mandate that only the central government will solve…hybrid vehicles are actually 25 per cent more…so any vehicle you see, most car companies have an Internal Combustion Engine(ICE) version, the hybrid version…it’s always 25-30 per cent more than the ICE version.”

He said that when duty is now added to the vehicle, Vincentians are forced to pay a hefty price.

“…The government…[should] partner, given the incentive of what the technology does to the environment and the consumer, to give the concession and subsidies.”

He said that while hybrid vehicles are a more expensive option, they are a long-term investment.