Is a VIN prefix enough to establish the rate?

No. The first three characters point to the manufacturer and the country, but one prefix can cover several plants. The rate needs the country of final assembly tied to the full number, and that is exactly the reading you get after entering a VIN.

What if the 6 came off a line in Canada?

Then the car does not use the preference and enters the EU at 10% duty. Canada and Mexico are the most common source of confusion, because cars from there reach sales in the States on equal terms with cars of American production.

Does zero duty also lower VAT?

Indirectly. VAT at 23% is charged on customs value with duty added, so 0% instead of 10% shrinks the tax base. Excise is worked out separately by engine size and comes to 3.1% or 18.6% either way.

Since when has the customs preference applied?

Since 2026-07-01, under the EU–US Agreement on Reciprocal Trade. It covers passenger cars finally assembled in the United States. Cars from plants in other countries keep clearing at 10%, whatever the market they were bought on and whoever sold them.

Does the model year change the assembly country?

Sometimes it does. Manufacturers move production between plants partway through a generation, so a 6 from two different model years can carry a different assembly country. That is why the rate is set for a VIN and not for a model name.

Where the Mazda 6 is assembled

US-assembled Mazda 6 cars usually reach us from the plant in Flat Rock. If your car came off that line, duty is 0% instead of 10%; if it came from a plant in another country, the preference does not apply. The split runs by single VIN, not by model.

Where is the Mazda 6 assembled?

The split shows in the data: 6,625 6 cars reached us with an American assembly plant, the rest came from plants in other countries. The first group qualifies for 0% duty, the second for 10%. The counts cover every car recorded in our database, not the current offer.

Plant	Country	VIN prefix	Cars in our database	Duty
Hofu	Japan	JM1	9,309	10%
Flat Rock	United States	1YV	6,625	0% duty
Yamaguchi	Japan	JM1	4,953	10%

Made in USA • Tax 0%

How do you check a specific car?

The check runs on the VIN, not on the auction description. You enter the number of a Mazda 6 and you get the assembly plant plus whether the origin condition is met. The lot description, the seller's country and the yard location say nothing about where the car was built.

How much will you save?

The gap is 10% of customs value, plus a side effect: 23% VAT is charged on the value with duty added, so a zero rate also lowers the tax base. On a 6 assembled outside the USA neither effect fires. Work the result out in the calculator — the rates are fixed, the customs value is not.

Work out the import cost

What the import cost is made of

Three tax lines and one variable. Duty follows the assembly country of your 6: 0% for an American line, 10% for any other. Excise goes by engine size — 3.1% or 18.6%. VAT at 23% is worked out last, on customs value with duty and excise added.

Component	Rate
Duty — car assembled in the USA	0%
Duty — everything else	10%
Excise	3.1% up to 2.0 l, 18.6% above 3.5 l
VAT	23%

Rates, not amounts — the calculator works the sum out on current data.

Zero-duty paperwork — our job

Proof of origin and clearance are on us. For a 6 that the VIN places on an American line, we assemble the plant documentation and declare the car at the 0% rate. What we need from you is the car you picked and its VIN.

What to watch for when buying at auction

An auction description talks about damage, not about origin, and the other way round. A 6 with a wrecked front can be assembled in the USA and come in at 0%, while an untouched car from the same sale comes from Mexico and pays 10%. Check both separately.

Damage	Cars in our database
Front end	3,164
Rear end	1,003
Side	973

From the USA or from Europe?

Europe hands you a car ready to register; the States hand you a wider choice of versions and of damaged cars. On a 6 origin joins the list: a car assembled in the USA clears at 0%, one from outside the preference at 10%. That is the first thing to check when you compare offers.

See current listings: Mazda 6