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Shas­tri Boodan

Low­er­ing the age lim­it on im­port­ed gaso­line-pow­ered ve­hi­cles from three years to six is one of the most sig­nif­i­cant mea­sures in the 2025–2026 na­tion­al bud­get, ac­cord­ing to the Trinidad and To­ba­go Au­to­mo­tive Deal­ers As­so­ci­a­tion (TTA­DA). Pres­i­dent Visham Bab­wah says the move will re­duce ve­hi­cle prices, save for­eign ex­change and fu­el, and bring more af­ford­able op­tions back to the mar­ket.

Cit­ing an ex­am­ple, Bab­wah said the Nis­san AD Wag­on was in high de­mand un­til pro­duc­tion end­ed in 2024, but deal­ers can now im­port the ve­hi­cle at sub­stan­tial­ly low­er prices. He not­ed it op­er­ates on su­per gaso­line and is not a hy­brid or elec­tric mod­el. He added there are many oth­er sim­i­lar ve­hi­cles—such as the Toy­ota Probox, Toy­ota Axio and Hon­da Civic—that can now be ac­cessed more eas­i­ly.