[fennecfoxen]

> the market size in Israel is not as big in other countries

Why, comma, you say that as if building a car outside of Germany and selling it inside of Germany would face some sort of unfair obstacles, rather than being a straightforward and painless process as it ought.

[IfOnlyYouKnew]

> Inside of Germany

That should be "Inside of Europe" because the barriers to selling cars in the EU are just about the same as selling Nevada cars in California.

For US->Europe tariffs for cars are around 10% I believe.

[Jommi]

Not true. There can be huge import taxes on cars depending on country, even inside EU.

[Symbiote]

There are no* import taxes on any goods moved within the EU. That's a fundamental principle of the thing.

The fee to register a car for use on public road varies. It's very high in Denmark (120% of the value or something) but the place of manufacture doesn't affect that. Second hand imported cars still need to pay it.

* Exception is the duty paid on alcohol and cigarettes, depending how you define it.

[ajayh]

Paying a tax on something you import from the EU which you don't pay if you buy in country is difficult to see as anything other than an import tax, no matter how it is named. See VRT in Ireland for example.

[Symbiote]

VRT is paid whether you buy a new vehicle from a manufacturer in Ireland or elsewhere in the EU. It's also paid if you buy a new vehicle from outside the EU, but in that case there will additionally be import taxes.

It might be that the administration is different (e.g. the large vehicle importer usually pays it, but you pay it yourself if you're buying some exotic Lotus direct from Britain).

[Jommi]

Right you're correct. Yet it's basically the same function.

[Symbiote]

It is a completely different purpose.

Denmark has high taxes for registering a vehicle for public use to pay for road construction or maintenance and to discourage car use (or rather, to make the people using the roads pay their way).

The EU has import taxes on vehicles to protect its own vehicle industry, to both maintain that industry and the jobs within it.

[erikpukinskis]

I think the main issues are shipping costs, supply chain, and skills base. So you’d have to argue for Israel on those three points.

I don’t think the domestic market size is primary. They built a factory in Nevada.

[robotresearcher]

Nevada is in a pretty stable free trade deal with the other United States.

[ijidak]

That made me laugh