Why can't BYD be licensed in another city?
3 Answers
BYD cannot be licensed in another city due to regional protection restrictions. Conditions for licensing a car in another city: It is required that the owner of the motor vehicle has moved their residence into the jurisdiction of the local vehicle management office, or when handling the transfer registration of the motor vehicle, the current owner has moved their residence into the jurisdiction of the local vehicle management office. Materials required for licensing a car in another city: For transfer registration, provide proof and documentation of the transfer of ownership of the motor vehicle, the motor vehicle registration certificate, the motor vehicle file, the original and copy of the owner's identity proof, and if the owner has moved their residence into the city, provide legal proof and documentation.
Actually, when I accompanied my friend to buy a BYD last year, I specifically asked the salesperson about this. The salesperson said it's mainly due to regional protection policies set by automakers, where manufacturers stipulate that dealerships can only sell cars to local residents for local license plate registration. Automakers implement this to prevent dealerships in different regions from competing with each other. For example, if car prices in Henan are significantly cheaper than in Beijing, Beijing dealerships would certainly be unhappy. However, buying a car from another region isn't entirely impossible. If the local dealership has inventory and is willing to sell to you, you can hire an agent to obtain a temporary residence permit for local license plate registration. By the way, another hassle is that the purchase tax must be paid in the registration location, so you need to consider whether it's worth making a special trip.
A while ago, my cousin who works in Shanghai took a liking to a BYD, but found the car prices back in his hometown were lower. He wondered if he could buy the car back home and register it there. Upon closer inspection, he discovered the main challenges lie in the invoice location and tax issues. When you buy a car out of town, the invoice is issued locally, and the local DMV will give you a hard time if they see you trying to register the car with an out-of-town invoice. Additionally, new cars must have insurance purchased and purchase tax paid in the place of purchase. If you return to your hometown, you'd have to pay the tax again without getting a refund for the out-of-town tax, essentially wasting extra money. However, I've heard that some places allow transferring the registration through a file migration process, but the procedures are particularly cumbersome, requiring you to bring all the invoices and certificates to the DMV twice.
