Cuban Car Buyers Shocked at High Foreign Car Prices
For the first time since the 1959 Cuban revolution, foreign-made cars are back on the market in Cuba—and it seems that they are starting off on the wrong foot by carrying some unfathomable prices. With a state monopoly on new car sales, there have been massive mark-ups across the board: in one example, Cuban car buyers are offered the opportunity to buy a Peugeot 508 for a pittance-price of $262,000. Peugeot lists the 508’s starting price right around $29,000.
The average state salary in Cuba is roughly $20 a month.
The Peugeot 508
While the ability to import foreign autos is definitely a move in the right direction for Cuba, this move towards new car sales will benefit a minority of the population. The masses are extremely upset, seeing the situation as madness. According to a report from BBC News, one said, “The prices are crazy. No Cuban who works for the state can buy at that price. They have zero chance of getting a car.”
On the other hand, the government argues that profits from the high new car prices will be put towards a public transport, since there is a dire shortage of transportation for those who can’t afford cars. It can only be surmised that the measure to overprice cars that Cuban car buyers cannot even remotely afford in the first place in order to provide public transportation to those poorer Cubans who couldn’t afford $262,000 cars if they could work for thousands of years is only slightly counter intuitive.
What can potential Cuban car buyers do to escape from ridiculous mark-ups? Leave us your comments and let us know.
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