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The two pricing terms you will see on every quote, and why the difference between them can be thousands of dollars.
If you have requested a quote from any China car exporter, you have seen the terms FOB and CIF — and the difference between them is one of the most common sources of confusion for first-time buyers.
This is the price of the vehicle itself, loaded onto the ship at the Chinese export port. It does not include ocean freight, marine insurance, or your destination country's import duty. Every model page on this site lists an FOB price range.
This adds ocean freight and insurance to the FOB price, giving a number much closer to what actually lands at your port — though local import duty and clearance fees at your end are still separate.
A buyer comparing an FOB quote from one exporter against a CIF quote from another is not comparing like for like — the CIF number will naturally look higher even if the underlying car and freight cost the same. Always ask which figure you are being quoted, and for a true side-by-side comparison, ask for both.
Our country guides show estimated landed cost — FOB plus freight and duty — for each of the ten markets we serve, so you can budget with a realistic number from the start.
