Clean car penalties cut for used imports
The Imported Motor Vehicle Industry Association (VIA) is celebrating a victory following the government’s decision to cut penalties for used imports once the full clean car discount scheme comes into force.
In an email alert on March 3, VIA says the penalties for used cars, which will be based on their emissions, will now be set 25 per cent lower than those for new vehicles coming into New Zealand.
VIA says that following a failure of consultations with the Ministry of Transport (MoT), it made “vigorous representations” to Michael Wood, Minister of Transport, who arranged for cabinet to review the clean car penalties for used vehicles.
As a result, the fees for used vehicles have been reduced by 25 per cent and the maximum penalty capped at 50 per cent of new vehicles.
Indicative figures on the MoT website as of March 3 show the full fee per gram of carbon dioxide (CO2) will be $57.50, which means it will be reduced to $43.13 for used vehicles.
The maximum cap on fees will be $2,875 for used imports and $5175 for new vehicles, while the maximum rebate is $8,625 for new imports and $3,450 for used imports.
Change of approach
Kit Wilkerson, VIA’s senior policy adviser, told Autofile Online the decision by the government more closely aligns with the original proposals agreed upon following discussions between industry and the MoT.
“The negotiations going back two years were that we were going to have penalties set at 50 per cent of those for new cars, and that was agreed by the new and used car industry,” he explains.
“Sometime last year the government changed its approach. It meant used vehicles would get half the credit per gram of CO2 as the new industry for low-emitters but the government was telling us we should get the full penalty per gram on the other end of the scale.
“If consumers are paying the same fees on a used import as for a new car, then they are paying for the emissions someone in Japan has already emitted.”
Wilkerson, pictured below, says a key concern for VIA was the change was published as part of a larger MoT document but it was never highlighted to industry and was not picked up on until the beginning of December 2021.
He adds the matter was raised with the MoT but “they gaslighted us a bit and could not see what the problem was”.
“Our main objection was that we felt the change contributed to a less fair market and there was a huge failure in consultation.
“We went to the minister and he was really good at hearing our concerns. We laid out what the effects would be and he agreed the discount was not intended to be telling consumers that used EVs are half as good as new EVs,” notes Wilkerson.
“The minister really went to battle for us to get this changed because it had already been approved by cabinet. We were very appreciative that he used some of his capital to get this change made for us.
“It’s a big deal. Twenty-five per cent lower penalties may be a small amount on any one vehicle but this programme is going to be in effect for years until we switch to pure EVs so that’s a lot of money saved by the NZ public.”
VIA adds that online calculators will be available to help industry and consumers determine rebates and fees.
It says the calculator at dealer.rightcar.govt.nz has been updated for dealers, while a consumer-facing tool will be available mid-March at www.rightcar.govt.nz.
The association also notes that exclusions from the feebate regime will apply to special interest vehicles, vehicles 40 years or older when they enter New Zealand, disability vehicles, motorsport vehicles and low-volume vehicles.
For any questions, contact VIA on 0800-842-842 or email info@via.org.nz.
