International car shipping from the UK
ICM is the UK specialist for luxury and supercar shipping to the Mediterranean — Monaco, Saint-Tropez, Cannes, Marbella, Mallorca, the Italian Riviera. The same network ships any vehicle to the USA East and West Coast, to mainland Europe end to end, and on a project basis worldwide. Every shipment is enclosed, customs cleared on your behalf and fully insured.
21 destinations we run most
We ship anywhere in Europe. These are simply the routes that come up most often — hover over or select a destination for route details, or ask about an address that is not marked.
United States — New York · Miami · Los Angeles · Long Beach. By container or RoRo. Worldwide sea freight beyond that, quoted on request.
International shipping at a glance
- Transit time
- 2–35 days
- Europe by road and sea, USA by container
- Modes
- Road · sea · container
- enclosed haulage, ferry, RoRo
- Customs
- EU, non-EU, US
- all paperwork handled on your behalf
- Insurance
- Fully insured
- higher cover available on request
Where do you ship to?
Two principal regional networks. Europe runs by road and sea ferry, with a country page for each of the nine most-shipped destinations. The USA route runs by enclosed container or RoRo from Liverpool and Southampton to East, Gulf and West Coast ports.
Europe
Nine destination countries with dedicated pages — France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Portugal, Netherlands, Sweden and Austria. Eurotunnel from Folkestone for the north, sea crossings from Southampton or Felixstowe to Marseille, Genoa, Barcelona, Bilbao and Santander for the Mediterranean and Iberia.
- Transit
- 2–8 days door-to-door
- Customs
- EU import or non-EU (Switzerland, Norway)
USA
Enclosed container or RoRo, sailing from Liverpool or Southampton to New York, Baltimore, Miami, Houston and Los Angeles. DVLA export and US customs handled, with EPA 3520-1, DOT HS-7 and each vehicle's age-exemption status advised in advance.
- Transit
- 14–35 days port-to-port
- Customs
- CBP, EPA, DOT, 2.5% passenger-car duty
Shipping somewhere else — the UAE, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia, the Caribbean? Request a quote with the destination address. Worldwide container routes are available on a project basis.
Our international shipping service
Safety
Every vehicle moves enclosed, whatever the route — transporters on the European network, sealed containers on the US crossing. A decade of international shipping without incident, underwritten through marine and motor insurers familiar with high-value haulage, with the cover limit confirmed on your quote and higher limits arranged on request.
Discretion
ICM moves cars for a private clientele who do not share their shipments publicly. Unmarked transporters on request, NDAs available for collectors and event organisers, no public manifest. Family offices, household managers and concierge teams co-ordinate many of the moves on behalf of their principals.
Experience
Over a decade of international shipping. Customs cleared across multiple jurisdictions worldwide. Named relationships with port agents at Marseille, Genoa, Algeciras, Palma, Southampton, Felixstowe, New York and Los Angeles. The relationships are the difference between a vehicle that clears the same day and one that sits at the dock.
How an international shipment runs, start to finish
The same sequence on every international shipment, whether the destination is a Monaco apartment, a German factory-service appointment or a Los Angeles dealership.
- Step 01
Quote
Tell us the vehicle, the collection address, the destination and the date you need it. A specialist returns a bespoke quote with route, transit window, customs treatment and insurance cover itemised — normally before the day is out.
- Step 02
Confirm and book
Booking is confirmed with a deposit. We agree the collection window, share the policy schedule, brief the named broker for the destination region and lock the transporter slot or the container booking on a specific sailing.
- Step 03
Collection
The transporter arrives at your nominated address — a private garage, a family residence, a dealership or a specialist storage facility. The driver completes a pre-shipment inspection with a photographic record, a fuel-level check and a documentation walk before loading.
- Step 04
Enclosed transit
European shipments travel by Eurotunnel and onward enclosed haulage, or by sea ferry from Southampton or Felixstowe with a short onward road run. US shipments load into a sealed enclosed container for the transatlantic crossing. GPS tracking is shared throughout.
- Step 05
Customs cleared
Our customs team lodges the declaration with the destination authority, instructs the broker for the arrival region and secures the release. EU imports, Swiss TIR carnets, Norwegian declarations and US CBP entries are all handled. You do not stand at a quay or chase a clearance reference.
- Step 06
Door-to-door delivery
Hand-over takes place at the address of your choice — a villa on the Côte d'Azur, a chalet in Kitzbühel, a townhouse in Amsterdam or a residence in California. A hand-over inspection mirrors the UK collection record. The cleared customs release and full documentation pack are signed and emailed.
Use the transport quotes page for the details we need, or request a quote to start the process.
International customs we handle
The customs work belongs to ICM, on every route. EU imports post-Brexit, US CBP entries with EPA and DOT, Swiss TIR carnets and Norwegian declarations are all part of the service. The cost is itemised in your quote.
EU customs
Every UK-origin car entering the EU requires a formal import declaration, an EORI reference, a T1 transit document and a customs release at the port of arrival. Temporary admission applies to visitors with a defined exit date; permanent import applies to new residents. Read more on the European customs page.
European customs guideUS customs and compliance
US Customs and Border Protection requires CBP Form 7501, an EPA 3520-1 emissions declaration and a DOT HS-7 conformity declaration. Passenger cars attract a 2.5% import duty. A vehicle 25 years or older is exempt from DOT/FMVSS conformity, and a vehicle 21 years or older is exempt from EPA conformity. We advise on each requirement before booking.
US customs guideNon-EU European destinations
Switzerland sits outside the EU and the customs union and requires a TIR carnet and a Swiss broker on arrival. Norway requires its own import declaration and VAT treatment. Both routes are covered by established broker relationships and quoted with the customs cost itemised so nothing arrives as a surprise.
Switzerland routeVehicles we ship internationally
Supercars, GT cars, luxury saloons, classics and full collections move across the network every week, always under enclosed haulage. See the full range of marques on our supercar transport page — if yours is not listed there, it is almost certainly still within scope. Request a quote and we will confirm.
How we protect your vehicle in transit
The protection regime is the same on every consignment, regardless of route or destination.
Enclosed transporters
Open-deck haulage is not the ICM default for luxury or supercar shipments. Full specification for European and US routes is on our enclosed car transport page.
Soft straps and chocks
Vehicles are secured with woven nylon wheel straps and rubber-faced chocks rather than chassis chains. The system spreads load through the tyres and suspension, leaving no contact with painted or polished surfaces.
Climate-controlled trailers
Long southern routes use climate-controlled enclosed trailers to keep cabin temperatures within a defined band, protecting interior leather, veneers and any climate-sensitive components on collector cars and pre-production vehicles.
Photographic record
The same collection-to-hand-over inspection applies on every shipment. Each destination page sets out what that looks like on your specific route.
GPS tracking
Live tracking on every consignment, shared with the client or a nominated representative throughout the route. Status updates are issued at collection, embarkation, customs release and delivery.
Named driver
European road shipments travel with a named ICM driver from collection to hand-over. The same individual signs the inspection at both ends, brings the documentation to the door and is the single point of contact during transit.
International car shipping — your questions
Mainland Europe end to end — nine countries have dedicated route pages (France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Portugal, Netherlands, Sweden and Austria) and the network reaches every other mainland European country including Belgium, Denmark, Ireland, Norway, Poland, Czech Republic and Greece. Transatlantically we ship to the USA East Coast, Gulf Coast and West Coast, with onward forwarding to Canada and Mexico on request. Worldwide destinations including the UAE, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and the Caribbean are quoted on a project basis.
Door-to-door transit ranges from two days for the Netherlands and northern France to seven or eight days for the Algarve, southern Italy and Stockholm. The transatlantic crossing to the USA East Coast is fourteen to twenty-one days port-to-port, with West Coast sailings taking twenty-one to thirty-five days. Worldwide container routes vary by sailing schedule — Dubai is typically four weeks, Australia six to eight. We confirm a delivery window at quote stage and update you in transit.
Yes. Our customs team lodges the declaration with the destination authority, instructs the broker for the arrival region and secures the release on every shipment. EU imports require an EORI reference, a T1 transit document and a customs release. Switzerland adds a TIR carnet and a Swiss broker. US imports require CBP Form 7501, EPA 3520-1 and DOT HS-7, with a 2.5% passenger-car duty and each vehicle's age-exemption status advised in advance. The customs cost is always itemised in your quote.
Yes. Vehicles are fully insured in transit, underwritten through specialist marine and motor insurers familiar with high-value haulage. The cover limit is confirmed on your quote, and is set higher on request for the marques we ship on the Mediterranean routes — Pagani, Koenigsegg, classic Ferraris, Bugatti Type 35s and the like. The policy schedule is shared before collection so you can verify the limits against a recent valuation. Cover runs from the moment the vehicle is loaded onto our transporter or sealed into its container to the moment of hand-over at the address you nominate.
Request a bespoke quote with the vehicle marque, model and year, the UK collection address, the destination address and the date you need delivery. A specialist returns a quote with the recommended route, the transit window, the customs treatment, the insurance cover and any specialist requirements itemised — normally before the day is out.
Ready to ship a car abroad?
Tell us a little about the vehicle, the collection address and the destination. A specialist will come back with a firm price, within 24 hours.