Myanmar Car - Cars - Myanmar Auto

A other very common situation is to play cars, means buy a Myanmar auto and wait until there are some changes in the import tax, when there are changes, usually the tax climbs, the sales price of a car already in the country also climbs. Import taxes on cars are very high.

Sometimes the people use a legal loophole by importing a used car for taxi purpose, they get a red number and taxes and duties are very low. When they did a new generation upgrade on taxis in Singapore some times ago most of the age old junk from Singapore ended up in Yangon and elsewhere in Myanmar. But slowly a Myanmar cars are manufactured  in the country especially the jeep type of an auto as as you can see in the left picture and further

below.

-By the end of the last century a new trend started to produce the cars locally.

The first where special designed Suzuki car with a big cabin, actually this cars even were more advanced than European cars at that time in terms of space available for passengers.

After this a very new auto trend broke out, car body parts were imported from Thailand and China. Such as fixed axels, leaf springs, gear, seats and other parts imported (actually smuggled in from Thailand) and some other parts plus an engine from China and there was a new Myanmar car rolling out from the manufacturing facility in Shan State. This half genuine car comes in form of a WW 2 jeep. Most of the times without door, only with some textile material covering the sides, just as the famous US WW2 jeeps, a genuine is pictured left.

Actually even today there are plenty of WW 2 jeeps, trucks and SUV's on the road of Myanmar. Just have a look to this romantic SUV above, isn't is really nice ?  No yoke I really think this old Myanmar cars in jeep styles have a certain beauty appeal, I guess its a GMC.

The fact is this, WW 2 jeeps are much more durable than any Toyota pick up or other car on Myanmar roads. There is hardly any rust or broken parts in the jeep and this now after around eighty years. This genuine WW 2 army jeeps are still for sale in Myanmar. For sale are also other Myanmar cars such as this big trucks - left picture- also originating from WW 2.

These Myanmar 3 ton trucks, a Ford V8, a Chevrolet and a GMC the first two remnants  from World War II, the third from early postwar years, are reminders of a bygone era. Almost all the original parts have been replaced except perhaps the engine, head casing and chassis, yet these vehicles have mellowed like good whisky and are still going strong. Suspensions have been reinforced and like all vehicles in Myanmar, the specified weight load is grossly exceeded.

- WW2 army jeeps are still hot items in Myanmar.

Old WW2 army jeeps, SUV's and trucks for sale are not in bad condition, they make some noise and blow black smoke but they don't look to bad, ok it need some positive thinking. There are also still WW 2 parts and all kind of WW 2 car restoration items for jeeps and trucks. Some car parts are still used on a current Myanmar auto but now the car parts for the jeeps are mainly coming in from Thailand and China.

Aside of this local breed cars, its Toyota country. Almost 80% of the cars on Myanmar roads are Toyotas, interestingly most in white colors and practically all imported as second hand cars into Myanmar. But slowly the locally made jeeps and cars from China gain ground.

Actually Chinese cars have a very bad reputation most of them work about half year after you can throw them away, unfortunately the Chinese manufacturer try to offload the junk they cant sell elsewhere to the neighboring countries, the Myanmar's know this and that's the reason why Chinese cars gain market share only very slowly.

Some time ago a Myanmar organization purchased about 500 trucks from China and about 200 were cannibalized after they completely broke down within 6 month. That's the way they do it China, I guess they have a lot to learn from the "decadent" western people.

The "home made" Myanmar cars are probably a good solution for the Myanmar's, they are simple, strong and easy to maintain just the right stuff for a tough environ. Imagine a BMW or Mercedes who brakes down here, who can make this European cars fit again, it needs weeks to wait for spare parts.

Even in Thailand where I had a Honda CRV SUV fully manufactured in Thailand it is always a problem to get spare parts from Honda in Bangkok it usually takes several days until even simple car parts arrive in the province from Bangkok.

Now if such car part things are already difficult in neighboring Thailand imagine what would happen in Myanmar, unthinkable !

Japanese pick-up trucks with a 1 ton payload capacity are popular for passenger transport throughout the country.

They are sturdy, fast and reliable. Equipped with wooden benches on each side and 5 stools in the aisle, these vehicles can seat 22 including the driver and two cabin passengers. Plus the spare guy or conductor and 3 passengers on the running-board, the weight of the people alone is by far more than the stipulated payload.

This does not include the sometimes heavy baggage on the roof and extra passengers seated on top, a common occurrence on out-of-town routes. A other version of private traffic are Mobility Scooters and Electric Wheelchairs you can find some here.