The car import sector benefits income earners who can be counted on the fingers of both hands. It is the logic of quotas imposed by the State which divides them. This is what the Association for the Fight Against the Rent Economy, Alert, denounces.
A rekindled controversy around a market that has become unaffordable
As Parliament discusses the 2026 finance law, the question of car prices returns to the heart of public debate. The announced reduction in automobile taxes, questions surrounding the “family car” and the surge in prices, both for new and used vehicles, have transformed this subject into a national issue.
A recent program broadcast on National Radiorelaying an old report from the Association for the Fight Against the Rent Economy (Alert) and commented by its member Dhia Khalfallah, shed light on a known but rarely explained reality: the Tunisian automobile market still operates according to a rent-seeking logic inherited from the Ben Ali era, largely intact despite the 2011 revolution.
A market structured by scarcity
In Tunisia, the surge in prices is not a coincidence. It is the direct consequence of an administrative system based on import quotas. Each year, the state limits the number of vehicles that can enter the country — around 50,000 cars, according to estimates.
This ceiling, much lower than real demand, maintains an artificial scarcity with visible effects: new cars remain unaffordable, certain used cars sell for more than their original price, and part of the middle class finds itself excluded from the market. An exceptional situation with regard to international practices, which can be explained by the way in which privileges are distributed in the sector.
Ten groups, a system unchanged for twenty years
According to Alert, ten economic groups now account for a large share of the market: 73% of automobile importation and distribution, 72% of auto insurance and 78% of leasing. This concentration is not limited to a simple commercial oligopoly: it forms a closed circuit where the same players import vehicles, distribute them, finance their purchase and insure motorists.
Under Ben Ali, these privileges – import licenses, commercial exclusivities – were granted according to political logic. After 2011, the names changed, but the mechanism remained the same. The revolution changed the actors, not the model. “The same group can sell you the car, finance your purchase and insure your contract,” summarizes Dhia Khalfallah. “It’s a textbook case of the rent economy.”
Margins higher than those of the manufacturers themselves
A particularly striking element concerns the margins achieved in Tunisian distribution. According to data cited in the show, a Tunisian dealer obtains an average margin of 10% on a new car, while a Japanese manufacturer is satisfied with 5 to 7%. In other words, automobile distribution in Tunisia can bring in more than manufacturing itself. This paradox is made possible by scarcity, exclusivities and the lack of effective competition.
The massive arrival of Chinese brands — BYD, Chery, Geely, Haval, BAIC or DFSK — may have given the illusion of an opening of the market. These new brands have expanded the offering, but without changing the structure of the sector. The new concessionaires have inserted themselves into a system where exclusivities remain, access to licenses remains controlled, margins remain high and real competition is limited. The market has expanded without liberalizing.
A tax reform that does not touch the heart of the problem
The 2026 finance law revises automobile taxes downwards – 10% consumer duty and 7% VAT, compared to more than 45% previously. The measure is part of the “car per family” system, adopted via article 55, which promises a partial exemption for a single vehicle per household. But this mechanism remains strictly capped and only concerns a limited fraction of imports.
For observers, this development will not change the structure of the market. Because it is not taxation that creates rent, but quotas, exclusivities and the opaque distribution of authorizations.
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