Autofile: October issue out

The Motor Industry Association (MIA) says New Zealand’s used vehicle importing process is broken, after used vehicles were imported into the country with disabled passenger-side airbags. The NZTA is now urgently working to identify the vehicles which have been modified as a quick fix to the Takata airbag recall. Toyota New Zealand has identified more than 8,000 used imports with the disabled airbag, but MIA chief executive David Crawford says a further 7,500 vehicle are likely to have been imported into the country. Access to the Motor Vehicle Register, under the current class authorisation, has been extended for a further six months, now expiring for all those without authorisation, from 31 April 2017. Meanwhile, three New Zealand businesses with links to the motor vehicle sales industry, are all showing an improvement in profit figures for their past financial year. The Commerce Commission has rebuked car traders who misrepresent quality or fail to provide correct information, with complaints about vehicle traders rising 70 per cent since 2013. The Commission says the increase in complaints is driven by complaints of misrepresentation about the quality of vehicles and coverage of warranties. Read more in the latest issue of Autofile. Finance fee structure guidelines have been announced in draft form to encourage submissions from interested parties. The Commerce Commission have suggested fee guidelines in the wake of the MTF / Sportzone case being finalised. Plus: Four-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon will headline Legends of Speed, a fundraising event where the who’s who of motorsport will be in attendance – you too can be there. Electric vehicles stole the spotlight at the Paris Motor Show, and we sit down with car industry stalwart Rod Milner in our industry profile. And don’t miss Autofile’s brief on the Mitsubishi Outlander and the new Mazda6, and our monthly stats section, which brings you all the stats for September. Click to read the October issue of Autofile.