From The Guardian comes news that the Government has announced that it will deregulate new car sales, thereby permitting buyers to purchase new cars directly from overseas dealers:
Legal restrictions will be removed to allow drivers to buy a new car once every two years, providing it is no more than 12 months old and has no more than 500km on the odometer.
The changes will apply from 2018, when local car manufacturing is scheduled to end, and according to the Australian Automotive Association, will push prices down.
The major projects minister, Paul Fletcher, said the government expected about 30,000 Australians to make use of the provisions and personally import new cars.
“It is true car dealers are not enthusiastic about this change, but we expect the quantity of imports to be modest,” he said. “Most Australians will continue to purchase cars directly imported by manufacturers and sold through their existing dealership network.”
The AAA chief executive, Michael Bradley, said the decision was “a big win for consumers and a decision that will open up choice and increase competition within the Australian car market”.
Great news. But it’s a shame the Government has not also followed New Zealand’s lead and deregulated the purchase of good quality used cars (known as “grey imports”).
Both the Harper Competition Inquiry and the Productivity Commission recommended removing restrictions on grey car imports, with the latter noting that “vehicles of similar mileage were on average almost 20 per cent cheaper in New Zealand than in Australia”, and that there was no dilution of safety standards under the New Zealand regime.
Given that the car industry is set to close anyway by 2017, why not soften the blow on consumers and increase their spending power even more?
