DSI chief meets luxury auto firms

Firms attending the meeting included the makers of brands like BMW, Mercedes Benz, Toyota and Nissan.

The DSI has set up a procedure to check 548 reassembled luxury vehicles. 

Meanwhile, Mercedes Benz’s representatives told the DSI that their cars are extensively marked and registered through an elaborate computer system thus reducing the risk of such cheating. This also makes available information on the exact number of imported vehicles.

Tarit said all steps in importing cars must be reviewed and that includes checking the sources of auto parts that are imported to be reassembled in the country and how each vehicle is being registered. 

He said the DSI would initially give the benefit of the doubt to the buyers of reassembled cars on which taxes were not paid, and on Tuesday report themselves and have their vehicles checked to see whether they were a tax-evading reassembled car or not.

Mercedes Benz Thailand said Tarit had checked relevant information with its parent company in Germany to find out if there exists any irregularity. They have expressed confidence that they would be able to determine whether some cars were reassembled here illegally in Thailand to avoid tax or not. The company said its auto engines are all registered.

Varos Thamwiwat, the legal importer of Ferraris to Thailand, said the registered numbers of the shell and its engines and even its gearbox can be verified to determine if they match or not. If they match, then the car has been imported as a whole and not reassembled, said Varos. He added that the Ferraris sold by his firm, Cavallino, are priced at Bt20 million to Bt31 million and all paid an import tax of 328 per cent.

Tarit said he had assigned his deputy, Wannapong Kotcharak, to find the money trail of the six reassembled luxury cars that caught fire while being transported. The hunt for Natee Riwthong, the driver of the truck carrying the six cars, is likely to end with his arrest soon,