When a person living in Mongolia got a 1999 Toyota Prius,
his family and friends were mocking at him saying “He has bought the worst car”.
He too was confused about the buy.
Mongolia is a country which has only 10% of the roads tarred.
The rest 90% of the roads are grass or dirt tracks. Anyone would understand it
is better to buy a car or truck that suits these roads. Adding to the bad roads
the climate of Mongolia makes it worse. It is colder than Moscow and Russia. The
roads freeze throwing other challenges. Definitely from the outlook anyone
would choose a truck or a SUV to drive, rather than the Prius, a car that suits
city tarred roads.
He had bought the Prius at a deal price of just $2500, and
looking at the fuel economy it offers. He says “He had initially thought of replacing
the car with other that suits the road of Mongolia”. It took him a month to appreciate the Prius he
had bought. But now, the scene has changes in Mongolia. Most of the people have
arrived at the same decision. According to government registry statistics,
Prius now make up nearly 13% of the Mongolian passenger vehicles, a trend that
is rising rapidly. Mongolians have imported 19,494 vehicles this year, forming
52.4% of the total vehicle imports, compared to 38% last year. You can see
Prius now outside city too, driving on snow drifts and rock-strewn dirt. Another reason for the rise is mainly because
Mongolia charges no air pollution tax or excise tax on hybrids. Wherever taxes
fall, Prius thrive. This has been the same trend all over the world, not just
in Mongolia.
The sale of new Prius is not great. Mongolia sells only 10 new
Prius every year. You can imagine the percentage of the used Prius being bought.
Most of these are Japanese used cars imported for Mongolia. There are several dealers like Autoworld International, who are getting these lovely cars to
customers in Mongolia at affordable price and amazing quality.
Earlier buyers thought that the electric parts would freeze.
Dealers had to convince them that it is not the case. But now the people are
convinced the Toyota Prius hybrid is a better option compared to other diesel
cars in the cold. The road earlier dominated by Russian, later by Korean, is now
dominated by the Japanese Toyota cars. With rise in number of Prius, numbers of
Prius-only repair shops have also increased, making it more convenient for
owners.” We can see the trend continue in years to come for Prius” he says.
No comments:
Post a Comment