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Hi Solomon,

I'm afraid there has been no announcement yet. We would be surprised if the Jaecoo and Omoda brands don't arrive at some stage in 2026, though.

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Hi Frank,

There's nothing stopping you importing a car from the UK regardless of where it was made, though there are potential savings so long as you can prove the car and most of its components were made there.

That's potentially tricky to do, as the car would have to qualify as UK-origin goods under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA).

All it saves is the import duty, however, typically 10 per cent of the customs value. You'd still have to pay VRT (including the NOx levy, potentially) and VAT if it's coming from England, Scotland or Wales.

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Hi Ian,

Yes, we believe so given the information provided. You will have to prove that the car was registered/in use in Northern Ireland for that duration, so gather as much paperwork as you can.

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Hi Caroline,

Opel Ireland has confirmed that the new Frontera comes with a five-year, unlimited-mileage warranty.

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Hi Gabriel,

I'm afraid we don't have any update since we published our news story on the 2026 RAV4, but we believe it will arrive in Ireland as a regular hybrid in March and the PHEV will be introduced into Ireland a little later.

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Hi Damien,

That's quite the automotive journey! 

Revenue has since attempted to make things a little simpler, so don't worry about the year of the car being imported from the North. All that matters - to avoid paying VAT and import duty - is that the car was imported into the North and used there for, as Revenue puts it "a reasonable amount of time".

We believe three months is fine, though you'll need paperwork to prove all that.

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Hi Mahmood,

Assuming you mean to avoid having to pay VAT and import duty:

In short, the "reasonable amount of time" has not been defined by Revenue, which says it will take each import on a case-by-case basis. But it's not about the previous owner having the car for that time, it's about the car being in use in Northern Ireland for that time, so if a 2010 car, for example, was registered new in NI, but the latest owner only had it a day before selling it to you, that does not matter.

Any documents you can get relating to the car's registration or importation into NI would be good, though the car's MOT history seems to be a good way to prove where it was in use as well.

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Hi Harry,

While Revenue does not offer any specific advice to cover your situation, our understanding is that VRT – i.e. Vehicle Registration Tax – applies only to vehicles being registered in the State for the first time. If you never intend to register or use the vehicle in Ireland, then VRT should not be payable.

If you are in any doubt, you could of course remove the parts you need from the vehicle before importation and then have the rest of it disposed of without it leaving the UK.

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Hi Paddy,

BYD has not announced any models for Ireland using the second-generation Blade battery, and indeed it hasn't really confirmed which cars will definitely get such a thing anywhere in the world that we know of.

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Hi Monica,

It really does depend on the specific vehicle, and that's what you'll need to check with Revenue. Most tippers are likely to be Category C, meaning a flat rate of €200 for VRT, but some, such as crew cabs, could be slapped with a 13.3 per cent VRT rate (of their Open Market Selling Price), so make sure you look up the official categorisation of the vehicle you're considering before committing to the purchase.

And don't forget that you could be liable for VAT and import duty as well if certain conditions are not met.