Dealers feel shipping squeeze

Some car importers are experiencing delays in getting stock shipped to New Zealand with international supply chains disrupted in the wake of the coronavirus.

Container ships and roll-on, roll-offs are being affected by changed schedules and a boom in demand.

There have been reports of ro-ros being rerouted from Japan to service new-vehicle shipments out of China and South Korea, while much of the global container stock is being snapped up for exports from China.

On top of other issues, it means cars being imported to New Zealand are sometimes being taken on longer routes or bumped onto later sailings.

Experts say the delays for ro-ros from Japan have been no worse than a few days so far, but vehicles being shipped in containers can be stuck in transit for much longer than usual.

The issue was reported in-depth in the December issue of Autofile magazine. Click here to access that online.

Don’t miss out – subscribe

Autofile magazine brings you the BIG stories that matter to car dealers, so subscribe now so you don’t miss out. We also publish the most extensive – and up to date – statistics around light-vehicle sales because we know how important they are to the industry.