Autoblog

Ford SVT Raptor commanding 300% of US MSRP on China's gray market

Zach Bowman — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Car Buying, Performance, Truck, China, Ford, Off-Road

The Ford F-150 SVT Raptor has plenty of fans all around the world, but the desert-beating pickup is perhaps most popular where it can't be had at all: in China. The Detroit News reports gray market buyers in the Asian country are snapping up the trucks at the equivalent of $160,000, or nearly three times the MSRP here in the States. Analysts credit the boom to shifting consumer perceptions. Chinese buyers have typically view pickups as utilitarian tools instead of lifestyle purchases, but that's changing. The Detroit News reports buyers in China are showing more interest in specialty vehicles like the SVT Raptor.

Vehicles like those from General Motors' Hummer family laid the groundwork ten years ago, and when the Raptor bowed in 2010, Chinese enthusiasm for the truck exploded on the internet. Importers are so keen to demand for the pickups that they've imported too many - prices are just now beginning to fall from their lofty heights. China has no laws against importing vehicles, though prohibitive taxes discourage all but the nation's wealthiest individuals from shipping in foreign models.

Ford SVT Raptor commanding 300% of US MSRP on China's gray market originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wisconsin man avoids jail by agreeing to have his Nissan Skylines crushed

Zach Bowman — Tue, 29 May 2012 14:58:00 EST

Filed under: Aftermarket, Classics, Coupe, Performance, Government/Legal, Japan, Nissan, Luxury

Authorities in Wisconsin are bound and determined to crack down on gray market vehicles. According to Stevens Point Journal, In 2010, the state government orchestrated a sting to catch Justin Beno selling two Nissan Skyline models, one of which played a role in the Fast and Furious franchise. A Wisconsin Department of Transportation investigator spotted both a 1995 and a 1996 Skyline up for sale and pretended to be a buyer. The investigator asked if it were possible to get the cars titled, and Beno said he believed the vehicles could be titled in Florida, then retitled in Wisconsin.

This was not the correct answer. The government seized both cars and charged Beno with a spate of offenses, including two felony counts of conspiracy to commit fraud, one felony count of owning a vehicle without a vehicle identification number tag and two misdemeanors tied to those missing VIN tags. Beno said he had originally purchased the cars as bare shells without the tags and that the seller later mailed them along. He also says he didn't know it was a crime to simply own a car without its VIN tag attached.

Brown County Deputy District Attorney Dana Johnson offered Beno a plea deal wherein he would accept the misdemeanor charges and give up both fully restored Skylines. After offering to pay the fines and help the authorities find buyers for both machines overseas, the prosecutor declined. Instead, both cars will be crushed and sold for scrap. That's particularly heartbreaking after Beno spent years assembling both from parts bought from all over the world. It's made worse by the fact that in just a few short years, both cars will be exempt from federal safety and emissions standards for vehicles over 25 years old. Head over to Beno's site to see the Big Bird Skyline that's headed for the reaper.

Wisconsin man avoids jail by agreeing to have his Nissan Skylines crushed originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 29 May 2012 14:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Petition to shorten gray market import exemption fails

Jonathon Ramsey — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:31:00 EST

Filed under: Classics, Etc., Government/Legal

Because we the enthusiast people didn't gather behind the effort to lower the gray market importation limit from 25 to 15 years, the We The People petition filed a couple of months ago has failed. In order to get the Executive Branch to consider such requests, each petition needs 25,000 signatures and this one didn't get it. That isn't to say the decision would have been overturned, but now it won't even get a look.

It is said that Mercedes-Benz helped get the original law passed the eighties, which means you can only now import the car - the 500 SEL - that prompted Mercedes to fight for it. Or there's always a 1986 Citroen CX or 1986 Nissan Skyline R31 to leave you thoroughly underwhelmed with your options.

Petition to shorten gray market import exemption fails originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 09 Dec 2011 18:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Petition started to change gray market exemption from 25 to 15 years

Zach Bowman — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:32:00 EST

Filed under: Classics, Etc., Government/Legal

A group of enthusiasts have started a We The People petition urging the Executive Branch in Washington to stop using what it says are Homeland Security funds to police gray-market vehicles. The petition also seeks to have the federal gray market exemption age reduced from 25 years old to 15 years old. As of right now, any vehicle imported into the U.S. must be able to comply with our government's safety and emissions standards unless they are 25 years old or older, making it nearly impossible for the importation of newer vehicles on an individual basis. The petition declares that the 25-year rule was originally adopted at the behest of automakers like Mercedes-Benz.

Automotive history buffs may recall that in the '80s, Benz only offered Americans the lackluster 380SEL while the rest of the world enjoyed the 500SEL. As a result, a massive gray market erupted for the more powerful sedan, and by some estimations, 22,000 Mercedes-Benz vehicles floated in outside of the dealer network in a single year. That caused the company to lean heavily on lawmakers to shut the import door.

The White House has agreed to respond to any We The People petition that accrues 25,000 signatures in a month. So far, this particular effort has only gained just under 5,000 names. Head over to the We The People site to check out the petition and add your own name to the effort if you agree.

Petition started to change gray market exemption from 25 to 15 years originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 16 Nov 2011 10:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nissan Australia wants "intelligence" on grey-imported GT-Rs

Damon Lavrinc — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 17:03:00 EST

Filed under: Nissan, Australia

One of the few problems with being the purveyors of a highly desired commodity is that people will do anything to get their hands on it, sometimes before you're willing to give it to them. Such is the case with Nissan and people importing GT-R's into Australia through the "grey-market."

A supposedly leaked memo from Nissan Australia to dealers Down Under requests that they keep an eye out for grey-market GT-Rs and to send in a tip to Nissan HQ reporting the "potential damage" and "stolen customers" that the vehicles are apparently causing. While we understand that Nissan is trying to protect sales, the fact remains that if the GT-R was obtained through legal means, there's not much they can do about it. And we highly doubt that many of Nissan's potential customers are going to go through the hassle of importing a GT-R when sales are expected to being in the early part of 2009.

[Source: GTRBlog]

Nissan Australia wants "intelligence" on grey-imported GT-Rs originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 14 Mar 2008 17:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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eBay Find of the Day: 1988 Citro�n CX

Dan Roth — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 12:33:00 EST

Filed under: Classics, Sedan, Auctions, PSA

We wonder if this thing tells you "Now go away, or I shall taunt you a second time!" whenever you shut it off. Hilarity aside, this long-wheelbase CX Prestige looks like it's made out of the same material that fashioned Darth Vader's mask. Maybe the hydro-pneumatic suspension even makes the same kinds of breathy noises. Probably not, as the seller claims the spheres are in good shape. Citroëns are pretty rare in the US, and the CX's are funk-tastic executive expresses.

This series-II car is a fine example of the last Citroën design before Peugeot purchased the brand. The long, tapered body dressed in black gives this thing an evil presence we think absolutely rocks. This is the car that replaced the space-capsule DS, and there's definitely a familial resemblance (though the CX looks more like Gumby's SAAB 900 than anything alse, if you ask us).

Underhood, there's a 2.5L four-cylinder that smokes Gauloises and is powered by croque monsieur. The price is up to $2650, which is actually pretty reasonable for a CX Prestige in good shape. 1988 was the second-to-last year for this smooth-riding teardrop that was first introduced in 1974, so any teething pains were long gone by then. Of course, the joys of maintaining a luxed-up European car with a very small support base are part of the thrill of ownership. We'd wear a Vader suit wherever we went. And limo-tint the windows. That'd make pulling up to the curb, any curb, the Best. Arrival. Evar.

more photos after the jump

Continue reading eBay Find of the Day: 1988 Citro�n CX

eBay Find of the Day: 1988 Citro�n CX originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 25 Jan 2007 12:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Updated -Tech entrepreneur Steffan Eriksson arrested on charges stemming from EnzoGate

Chris Paukert — Mon, 10 Apr 2006 11:04:00 EST

Filed under: Coupe, Performance, Etc., Government/Legal, Supercars, Mercedes-Benz

Stefan Eriksson, the Swedish video game impresario at the center of February's EnzoGate in Malibu, California has been booked on "suspicion of grand theft," and is being held without bail.

This, after detectives searched his Bel-Air residence on Saturday night. It isn't clear what the officials were looking for (or what they found), nor is has the new charge been directly attributed to disintegrated Ferrari.

For those who missed it, Eriksson was in a Ferrari Enzo when it clipped a pole along the Pacific Coast Highway at an estimated 162 mph while racing a mystery Mercedes. From thereon out, everything gets a little muddy. Was Eriksson driving? Was it even his Ferrari? The tale has yet to unravel, but we're reasonably sure there's a made-for-television movie in here somewhere, especially considering the bonus legal run-in by Eriksson's wife last month. The entrepreneur's S.O. was apparently clipped for driving around in a Benz SLR McLaren wearing foreign plates. Subsequent investigations have revealed that the exotic may have been illegally imported from the UK.

[Source: Associated Press via ABC 7 Los Angeles]

(Thanks for the tip, FinishedLawSchool)

*Update: CNN is reporting that police have confiscated three vehicles (including another Enzo and the SLR). Word is that Erikkson had lapsed on payments to British financial institutions, with the latter being reported to Scotland Yard authorities. The spectacular flameout continues...

[Source: Associated Press via CNN]

(Top update, Juan!)

*Updated* -Tech entrepreneur Steffan Eriksson arrested on charges stemming from EnzoGate originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 10 Apr 2006 11:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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