Gray market

[Automahn]

Kung sa ibang produkto may black market, bakit sa mga auto gray market ang tawag?

[aku]

Pag black market, ibig sabihin totally illegal yung binebenta, without a shadow of doubt. Pero pag gray market, the items for sale (in this case, the imported cars) aren't necessarily illegal per se, but the methods by which they are brought into the country tend to be, shall we say, questionable, to say the least. Though not to say that all privately imported cars in the country were brought in by less than perfectly legal means.

[OTEP]

In the car world, gray market cars are cars brought into the country by entities other that the accredited importer/dealer of the vehicle manufacturer.

If there is already a similar vehicle being sold already (e.g. HARI Starex vs. Standout Starex), then the more apt term is 'Parallel Import'.

[Horsepower]

another word for smuggled goods

[OTEP]

Gray market vehicles are not smuggled. Otherwise they'd be called black market vehicles. Gray market vehicles are fully tax-paid and legally imported (with documentation to back it up). The LC we just sold was a gray unit (from the Middle East). My brother's daily driver is also a gray unit (from China). My mom's coding car is also a gray unit (ex-USA). You just need to have the proper documentation and pay the proper fees.

During the 80's gray-market vehicles were popular in the U.S. But newer regulations made it too expensive to federalize imported vehicles. One of the last well known importers was Europa International which made the MB G-Wagen available in the U.S. They lost the G-Wagen biz when MB North America finally officially imported the G-Wagen into the U.S. (much to the delight of rappers everywhere).

[Horsepower]

OTEP: i'm not sure about vehicles but electronic items that are grey market are always smuggled goods.

[niky]

With cars, grey means "legal" but not "official".

In other words, the only thing "shady" about a grey-market import is the amount of manufacturer support you'll get if something breaks... (i.e.: none)

I've heard it applied to expensive electronics... stuff brought in (not necessarily smuggled) without manufacturer support (read: warranty).

[cpsolt]

An old thread... sorry kung binuhay ko pa.
Meron pa kayang bentahan ng import cars/trucks sa Region 1?