CBU: Complete Built Unit. This refers to a fully assembled vehicle, or a complete machine that is directly imported as is.
SKD: Semi Knocked Down. In international trade, particularly in the international automobile trade, car companies from vehicle-exporting countries partially disassemble finished products and export them as semi-finished products or components. The importing manufacturers then complete the assembly in their own country and sell the finished vehicles. This method offers several advantages for the exporter: it reduces shipping costs, utilizes the importing country's cheaper labor, and often benefits from lower import tariffs compared to fully assembled vehicles. For the importing country, this approach promotes domestic industrial development, increases employment opportunities, and helps capture the local market. Specifically, SKD refers to exporting major vehicle components (such as engines, chassis, etc.) in a semi-finished state in separate boxes, which are then assembled into complete vehicles in the importing country.
CKD: Completely Knocked Down. In the industrial sector, this is known as "completely disassembled assembly." It's a method of vehicle assembly where the entire car is imported in a completely disassembled form. The car parts are produced in places where production costs are lower or where manufacturing technology is more advanced. These parts are then imported to locations with cheaper labor costs for assembly into complete vehicles, which can then be sold at a lower retail price. In simple terms, CKD vehicles are those that enter a country in a completely disassembled state and are then reassembled into complete vehicles using all the imported parts.