[Kishan Shah]

More pictures of our neighbors,I hope you guys like it

[AkbarSattar]

Hello all. I am a new member to TeamBHP. I am a Bangladeshi auto enthusiast, and am a member of a few Bangladeshi automotive websites, and I have lots of connections with owners of high-value cars. (For example, the Nissan Skyline GTR R34 belongs to my Chacha, the silver Toyota Supra TwinTurbo belongs to someone I know, and the yellow Porsche 996T belongs to my Dad's business partner, etc. ) . If any of you need any information let me know. I just wanted to keep this thread updated.

Just recapping after reading through this thread. Taxes in Bangladesh are ludicrous. 850% for vehicles over 4000cc!

Earlier I read a post that stated that it is pointless to own an executive luxury saloon, such as a 7'er in Dhaka. I beg to differ (up to a certain point)

In my opinion at least, Dhaka is a great place to have such cars, if you can afford it. Not anymore though. Back in the day, car tax was not that serious. My father bought a 2002 Lexus LS430 brand new back when it was brand new. Back then, they didn't cost a stupendous amount, About sixty lac taka. These cars are so luxurious and perfect for when you get stuck in Dhaka traffic. The LS430 has massage seats, plush leather seats, and more to keep you comfortable. Size is a problem, but not really if you drive it carefully. My family's LS430 is VERY rarely driven. 9 years old and it has just a tad over 8,000km on it. It hasn't been scratched even once. I know people with 730's who drive them all the time and don't encounter much problems with collision.

But recently, everything has changed. I went over to the BMW dealership and was told that the BMW 730ld on display was sold for 4.25 crore taka. That is $600,000+. NOW it's really a waste buying a car like that. Just my opinion though.


Also,

Someone earlier mentioned the GTR was in a terrible accident and was scrapped.

False. It's rarely ever driven. It's been under a car cover for nearly a year and is in good condition.

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by AkbarSattar

Just recapping after reading through this thread. Taxes in Bangladesh are ludicrous. 850% for vehicles over 4000cc!
........... Back in the day, car tax was not that serious. My father bought a 2002 Lexus LS430 brand new back when it was brand new. Back then, they didn't cost a stupendous amount, About sixty lac taka. These cars are so luxurious and perfect for when you get stuck in Dhaka traffic..........
But recently, everything has changed. I went over to the BMW dealership and was told that the BMW 730ld on display was sold for 4.25 crore taka. That is $600,000+. NOW it's really a waste buying a car like that. Just my opinion though.

Keep the info flowing from across the border, any particular reason why the taxes increased hugely through the years?
And do post an ownership review of your LS, waiting for it.

[AkbarSattar]

Originally Posted by DicKy

Keep the info flowing from across the border, any particular reason why the taxes increased hugely through the years?
And do post an ownership review of your LS, waiting for it.

Will do! Not exactly sure, I guess the government wants to discourage the import of higher displacement vehicles, and wants to rack up more money. Not 100% sure though, so don't quote me on that. People are still buying high-displacement vehicles. In January a Henessey HPE650 Camaro arrived, with a 655 BHP 6.3 V8. Over the past few years we have seen a TechArt 911 997 Turbo, 700hp Nissan GTR R35, 2011 F01 740li Twin Turbo, BMW M3 E92, and more.

I wrote a review of the LS430 on another automotive site, will paste it here.

[Cyrus43]

Originally Posted by AkbarSattar

Will do! Not exactly sure, I guess the government wants to discourage the import of higher displacement vehicles, and wants to rack up more money. Not 100% sure though, so don't quote me on that. People are still buying high-displacement vehicles. In January a Henessey HPE650 Camaro arrived, with a 655 BHP 6.3 V8. Over the past few years we have seen a TechArt 911 997 Turbo, 700hp Nissan GTR R35, 2011 F01 740li Twin Turbo, BMW M3 E92, and more.

I wrote a review of the LS430 on another automotive site, will paste it here.

Hey. Do you know a guy who has a Blue Honda Integra with a white Stripe. One of the Member's of Club GT. His name is Vicky Khawar Ahmed. He is a very good friend of mine. Also, Do post some pics of the Techart Turbo if possible.
Cheers.

[AkbarSattar]

Originally Posted by Cyrus43

Hey. Do you know a guy who has a Blue Honda Integra with a white Stripe. One of the Member's of Club GT. His name is Vicky Khawar Ahmed. He is a very good friend of mine. Also, Do post some pics of the Techart Turbo if possible.
Cheers.

I don't know him :(.

Here are some pics of the 997T TechArt as requested:










The last picture's my favorite. The three fastest cars in Bangladesh, all owned by the same man, in once picture. (Also note that little maroon bit on the far right. That's a Hamann kitted BMW M5.

All photos courtesy of r3vbd.com and the original photographers.

[DicKy]

Wow!, the Camaro and Godzilla in the same garage!!!
BTW, no problem in importing a LHD car? ,cause AFAIK, Camaro is LHD only.
Also one big question- "What's the fuel price there,both petrol and diesel?"

[Lalvaz]

Had the opportunity to visit Bangladesh on a 3 month project in July 2011, and first thing I noticed was the sheer domination of the Automobile market by Toyota. Every segment from hatchbacks, sedans, pickup trucks, SUV's, vans, utility vehicles, and even some minibuses were overwhelmingly Toyota loyalists. There were more models of Toyota than I even knew existed.

Initial impression was that contrary to what I had heard and read, Bangladesh must be extremely prosperous to be able to buy so many foreign cars. That impression soon changed, as I saw more and more of the country, and learnt more about the Automotive industry here.

I'm trying here to document the reasons for the sheer dominance by Toyota as well as understand the collective failure of the Indian automobile manufacturers to reach out to the countries adjoining India. Ah, as usual, there is one exception, and it is a very interesting exception, namely Bajaj, which seems to be a very niche player currently.

So, some facts first.
Noticed the following models of cars in Dhaka.
Toyota - Corolla, Allion, Premio, Platz, Noah, Funboy, Probox, Camry, Succeed, X Fielder, Rav4, Hiace, Hilux, etc...
Nissan - Bluebird, Teana, Sunny (older variant), X trail, Petrol, Cefiro
Mitsubishi - New Lancer, Pajero
Honda - CR V, City, Accord
Suzuki - 800, Swift, Esteem, Grand vitara
A few beat up Indica's and some other exotics pretty much sum up the list.

The percentage would be about 95% Toyota, about 3% Nissan & Mitsubishi, and 2% others. Please note these figures are just based on my detailed observations of the vehicles on the streets.

Need to go now, but will soon post the pricing for cars in Dhaka, and the reasons expressed by Bangladeshi's for the lack of Indian cars in Bangladesh.

[DicKy]

Most of the Japanese cars are pure JDM that i would do anything for to have in India.
The Allion,Premio,Probox,Succeed to name a few and most of all the Hiaces and Hiluxes which Toyota is should launch here.
Not to say ma most fav-Toyota Mark X which i see is plenty in Bangladesh from the youtube videos.
but what's the Funboy? haven't heard of that model.

[FourWheelDrift]

@Lalvaz : It would be really interesting, if you could post pictures of what dealerships of different brands look like from the outside and the inside, for whichever cities you visit.

Cheers,

FourWheelDrift

[Lalvaz]

Dicky - the Funboy looks like the Probox. First time I saw it, I thought it was the Probox with a different badge, but then saw a few more Funboy's.

Fourwheeldrive - Will try and get some pics on the weekend.

Ok, now here's an interesting article on the Indian cars v/s Japanese cars in today's Daily Sun Newspaper.




Ofcourse some folks might point out that this article is only from a single point of view and the reconditioned car dealers would obviously root for reconditioned Jap cars over new Indian cars, lest they go out of business, however my interaction with car dealers reveals that there is some merit in this article.

BTW, there are dealerships for some Indian auto cos that I've seen so far, namely Mahindra & Mahindra & Hindustan Motors. Will also check if there are any other Indian auto dealerships.

[anjan_c2007]

There is a thread already in vogue on the cars in Bangla Desh! These two can be perhaps merged.
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/intern...ladesh-bd.html

[SankalpDesai]

Wow. Nice pics there. But I still can't believe there are so many rich people in Bangladesh of all countries! Must be brothers and sisters of all people working in the Gulf. Mid-east is full of Bangladeshis and so is UK.

Are there any compact, sub-compact and ultra-compact cars in Bangladesh, like the ones we have in India - Alto, WagonR, Figo, Nano...???

[Lalvaz]

Originally Posted by SankalpDesai

Wow. Nice pics there. But I still can't believe there are so many rich people in Bangladesh of all countries! Must be brothers and sisters of all people working in the Gulf. Mid-east is full of Bangladeshis and so is UK.

Are there any compact, sub-compact and ultra-compact cars in Bangladesh, like the ones we have in India - Alto, WagonR, Figo, Nano...???

Well, most of these cars are atleast 5 year old Japanese reconditioned cars, so they were quite cheap till recently, when import duties were hiked. So, thats why most of the cars are Toyota sedans, vans, SUV's, pickup trucks.

Very few compacts, all taxi's are usually beaten up Maruti 800's, Indicabs, and some private Toyota IST's.

Most cars run on CNG, although petrol and diesel rates here are cheaper than most Indian cities.

[AkbarSattar]

Hey all, this thread has been pretty lifeless recently, so I thought I'd jumpstart it with a picture of a recent import:



Yes, that is a Ferrari F430! One of only two in the entire country (The other being a 1989 Ferrari 328GTS).