The short answer: you can clear a Can-Am Maverick from Canada through EU customs, but registering it for public roads is difficult, expensive and the outcome is not guaranteed. This has nothing to do with the machine being "Canadian": even in Europe, BRP sells the Maverick X3 and Maverick R without road approval. For private land, motorsport and farm use, a Canadian Maverick can work out cheaper than a European one — below we explain when. This article was prompted by enquiries from France and Croatia, but the logic is the same across the EU.

Where the Maverick is built, and why it matters for duty

BRP is a Canadian company, but it builds Can-Am off-road vehicles, including the Maverick, at three plants in Juárez, Mexico. More on BRP's plants in our article "Buying from Canada or the US". For EU import duty, this is the key fact.

  • The standard rate. A new petrol side-by-side with an engine up to 1,000 cc — which covers both the Maverick X3 (900 cc) and the Maverick R (999 cc) — is normally classified under CN subheading 8703 21 10. TARIC lists a third-country duty of 10%.
  • CETA will not help. TARIC shows 0% for Canada, but that preference applies only to goods of Canadian origin under the CETA rules. A Mexican-built vehicle does not qualify, no matter where it was bought.
  • The EU–Mexico agreement is unlikely to help either. TARIC also shows 0% for goods from Mexico, but it requires a proof of origin from the exporter and compliance with the direct transport rule: transit through a third country is allowed only under customs supervision. A vehicle that was imported into Canada and sold by a dealer does not meet that condition.

So the honest way to budget a Canadian Maverick is at 10%. The final code is confirmed by a customs broker based on the documents for the specific vehicle. We cover how CETA and the rules of origin work for cars in detail in our article on importing cars from Canada to the EU.

VAT and national taxes

VAT is paid in the country where the vehicle is released for free circulation: the standard rate is 20% in France and 25% in Croatia. The base is the customs value (price plus shipping and insurance to the EU border), plus the duty and transport to the first place of destination.

The French malus — both the CO₂ and the weight malus — is charged at first registration. According to the official service-public.gouv.fr guidance, it applies to M1 passenger cars and to certain N1 and N1G commercial vehicles with five or more seats. Side-by-sides in categories T or L are not on those lists. Croatian national taxes and fees at registration depend on the vehicle category, and we check them case by case.

The main obstacle: type approval

To register a vehicle in the EU you need a European certificate of conformity (CoC) or an individual approval. Here is where things stand:

  • In Europe, BRP makes only certain models road-legal. On Can-Am's French website, the Maverick Trail T and Maverick Sport DPS T carry the label "Catégorie T homologuée CE". The Maverick (as the X3 is called in Europe) and the Maverick R do not. French Can-Am dealer Groupe GRIM states plainly that the Maverick X3 and Maverick R are not road-approved in Europe and can be used on closed private land, circuits and organised events.
  • France. If a vehicle has no European CoC, registration requires a réception à titre isolé (RTI) report — an individual approval from the regional DREAL office (DRIEAT in Île-de-France). The office decides what the specific vehicle must meet; dealers warn about the cost, the time involved and the risk of refusal over a single detail such as lighting, brakes, noise or emissions.
  • Croatia. The State Office for Metrology (DZM) sets out the procedure for vehicles from third countries, including Canada: an inspection at the engines and vehicles laboratory of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering in Zagreb (FSB), possible modifications — for example to the speedometer or mirrors — a noise test at CVH where required, then DZM approval and a conformity check at a vehicle inspection station.
  • It can be done, but as a separate project. For example, an authorised Can-Am dealer in Portugal sells a 2026 Maverick X3 with an individual T1b approval for two occupants, with the road kit and paperwork included in the price. Nobody can guarantee the same outcome for a Canadian unit in advance.

There is also an issue that applies even to off-road use. EU Regulation 2016/1628 on non-road engine emissions explicitly covers side-by-side engines (category ATS for spark-ignition engines) unless the vehicle is approved as a tractor or an L-category vehicle. How this is handled for a specific North American unit, and how the customs authority of the importing country will view it, is something we clarify with a broker before purchase, not at the border.

BRP prices: Canada vs France

Here are BRP's public recommended prices for the 2027 model year, taken from Can-Am's websites on 5 November 2026. Canadian MSRPs exclude taxes; for the Maverick R the Canadian site adds CAD 2,050 for transport and preparation. French prices include 20% VAT but exclude preparation and registration.

2027 modelCanada, MSRP≈ in eurosFrance, price incl. VAT
Maverick R X rsCAD 54,999€35,087€53,099
Maverick X3 X rs (in France: Maverick X rs Turbo RR)CAD 40,999€26,156€40,899

Conversion uses the ECB reference rate for 5 November 2026: €1 = CAD 1.5675. Adding 10% duty (€3,509) and French 20% VAT (€7,719) to the Canadian price of the Maverick R X rs gives €46,315 — before sea freight, dealer preparation, the broker and delivery to your door. The gap to the French price is about €6,800, and all of those costs have to come out of it. For the Maverick X3 X rs the same calculation gives €34,526 and a margin of about €6,400. Croatian VAT is 25%, so the margin there is smaller: for the Maverick R X rs, the total with duty and VAT comes to €48,245 before the same costs.

This is a simplified calculation: freight to the EU is part of the customs value and increases both the duty and the VAT. North American and European specifications can also differ, so we compare the spec sheets of the actual units.

The honest verdict

  • If you need to drive on public roads, buy a factory T-category version from a local dealer, such as the Maverick Trail T or Maverick Sport DPS T. The Maverick X3 and Maverick R are not road-approved in the EU even in European spec, and individually approving a Canadian unit is expensive, slow and uncertain.
  • For private land, motorsport, farm or estate use, a Canadian Maverick can be the better deal — provided the engine compliance and warranty service questions are resolved before you buy.
  • If your local dealer offers a good discount, the margin may disappear. If so, we will tell you.

How we work

Before you pay a deposit, we check the origin and documents of the specific unit, calculate duty and VAT for your country and work with a broker to confirm how the vehicle will be treated on import. If a European-spec machine from a local dealer turns out to be the smarter choice, we will say so. If we go ahead: a CAD 2,000 deposit (non-refundable if you withdraw from the unit), the unit's documents, a reservation with the dealer, 3–5 days of preparation, payment of the balance, photos and video at pickup and dispatch the same day. We do not publish prices — we quote for the specific vehicle. For a model comparison, see Maverick R or Maverick X3; for availability, browse our side-by-side catalogue, for example the Maverick R X rs and Maverick X3 X rs Turbo RR. Send us the model and your country of registration via the order form, and we will run the numbers for you.

Full transparency. Throughout the whole journey you receive every document related to your order. For a new vehicle, that starts with the official dealer's bill of sale; for a used one, we help you run its VIN history; after that, documents at every stage of shipping.

Sources

Rates, prices and the exchange rate are as of 5 November 2026 and may change; the final calculation is made on the date of clearance.