This marked a sharp, but anticipated, fall in car imports this year, due to the nine-day Lunar New Year holiday in February. In addition, the government began applying newly calculated special consumption tax on January 1, which caused the price of imported cars to rise by an estimated 5%. This encouraged many people to buy cars in the closing months of last year. Turnover of imported cars is predicted to increase this year, but the car market is unlikely to experience the boom seen last year.
