A structural breakdown of where your money goes on an EV import — vehicle, shipping, duties, registration, partner fees — so you can model it for your market before asking for a quote.
When you see a Chinese EV with an attractive FOB price, the number is only a fraction of what will leave your bank account to land that car on your lot. This article breaks down the structural share of every cost component so you can model your own landed cost before asking for a quote.
Note: All figures below are structural ratios — percentages of total landed cost — not specific dollar amounts. Exact figures for your situation are confirmed per RFQ.
Typically 55–85% of total landed cost, depending on the market's duty burden. Low-tariff markets like UAE leave the vehicle as the dominant cost; high-tariff markets like Bangladesh compress the vehicle's share significantly.
2–6% of total landed cost for single-unit shipments, dropping to 1–3% for full-container loads. Container shipping versus RoRo versus break-bulk has a material effect. Regular corridors from Shanghai (UAE, Southeast Asia, Russia Far East) are cheaper per unit than irregular routes (Central Asia sea-and-overland, Balkans).
0.5–1.5% of CIF value. Don't skip this. An uninsured vehicle lost at sea is an uninsurable financial disaster for a small dealer. The premium is a rounding error compared to the risk.
1–3%. Covers unloading, container handling, terminal charges, documentation fees at the destination port. Budget specific per-port — Jebel Ali handling is different from Lagos handling is different from Chattogram.
1–3%. You pay a local clearance agent to file your customs paperwork, represent you at the port, and secure release. Worth paying for — the savings from trying to self-clear are consumed by the first rookie-mistake delay.
This is the variable cost. In UAE and most Gulf markets, 10–15% of CIF (duty + VAT). In most of Europe and LatAm, 20–35%. In Nigeria, 30–45%. In Bangladesh CBU, 100%+. This single line is the biggest driver of market-to-market landed-cost differences.
1–3%. Certificate of Conformity preparation, local type-approval filing, first registration, license plates. Varies by market. Some markets (UK individual vehicle approval, Malaysia JPJ filings) are structurally expensive per unit; others are routine.
Why UAE is a dealer favorite: low duty burden means the vehicle remains the dominant cost. Premium positioning works because landed costs stay close to FOB.
With CBU classification the duty share alone could exceed 50% — which is why SKD is the structurally right choice for Bangladesh volumes.
Full-container loading collapses per-unit freight cost dramatically — this is why West African dealers prefer 10-unit containers over single-unit RoRo.
Take your own target vehicle's rough FOB (we'll confirm in an RFQ, but you can estimate from public Chinese retail + export margin uplift), then apply the market-specific ratios above to size up rough landed cost. This won't give you a precise quotation — it will tell you whether the category you're considering is even in the right price zip code for your customer base.
If the rough math doesn't work, a more precise quote won't fix it. If the rough math looks plausible, that's when an RFQ is worth running.
Send an RFQ via WhatsApp or email. Our Shanghai export desk will scope your requirements and return a qualified FOB / CIF / DDP quotation — typically within one Shanghai business day.