Another carmaker has made some changes to cope with the Department of Trade and Industry’s (DTI) provisional safeguard duties on vehicle imports. Mazda Philippines has just announced that it has already begun collecting security deposits for purchases of select vehicles.
Since March 1, customers purchasing brand-new Mazda 3s (select variants only) or MX-5s have been asked to make a P70,000 security deposit.
Full List of Affected Mazda Vehicles and Variants:
- Mazda 3 Sedan Premium
- Mazda 3 Sportback Premium
- Mazda 3 Speed
- Mazda MX-5 Soft Top
- Mazda MX-5 Retractable Fastback
- Mazda MX-5 Club Edition
Purchases of Sedan Elite and Sportback Elite variants of the Mazda 3 will entail no security deposits as stocks of said units arrived before February 1, 2021. The same applies for the 2, the 6, the CX-3, the CX-30, the CX-9, and the BT-50.
The CX-5 and the CX-8, meanwhile, are exempted from the DTI’s new policy, so there will be no deposits necessary for those models. You can check out the official announcement below:
According to Mazda Philippines, the deposits will be returned to the customers via their respective dealerships in the event that the DTI decides to scrap the safeguard duties and refund the deposits to dealers and distributors. However, if the safeguard duties become permanent, the customers will then need to pay the corresponding VAT on the security deposits.
For refunding of deposits, customers only need to present a government-issued ID and the acknowledgment receipt given upon the purchase of the new unit.
Mazda is among many carmakers who have chosen to collect additional deposits in light of the DTI’s provisional safeguard duties. Toyota, Honda, Mitsubishi, and Isuzu have done so, too. Ford and GAC Motor, meanwhile have hiked up their prices instead, while Subaru has assured customers of tariff-free purchases at least until the end of March.
