The Turnbull Government has reportedly back flipped on its promise to allow personal imports of high quality overseas vehicles – so-called “grey imports”. From Motoring.com.au:
The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) has offered its approval of the federal government’s official announcement today that it will not deregulate personal vehicle importation.
Previously, Paul Fletcher, the Minister for Urban Infrastructure, had flagged an intention to allow largely unrestricted parallel importation from markets where cars were subject to design rules similar to Australia’s.
In the FCAI statement, Tony Weber, Chief Executive of the FCAI, observed that the government’s decision was based on its own findings that consumers would not necessarily be protected adequately by opening up the market to parallel imports.
“The industry has long held the view that personal imports are not in the interest of consumers, nor of the 236,000 people who are either directly or indirectly employed in the Australian motor industry,” Weber was quoted saying in the FCAI press release.
“Australia already has one of the most competitive motor vehicle markets in the world, delivering world quality vehicles and outstanding value for the consumer.
“To allow personal imports would have exposed consumers to enormous risks, which the Government’s own analysis has clearly identified.”
“The broad picture offered by the Government in its statement is one which now provides legislative certainty and clarity and most importantly, better protection for Australian consumers,” Mr Weber added.
What a pathetic cop-out by the Turnbull Government, who has yet again put vested interests ahead of the Australian consumer.
The claim that Australian safety would have been placed at risk by allowing grey imports is laughable.
The Productivity Commission’s (PC) report into Australia’s Automotive Manufacturing Industry, released in 2014, explicitly cited a 2005 study by researchers at the Monash University Accident Research Centre, which found that “the used imports [into New Zealand] were as safe as those sold new when compared on a year of manufacture basis, and that the difference in crashworthiness performance between an average used imported vehicle and an average new vehicle was attributable to the date of manufacture of the used vehicle rather than its previous use in its country of origin”.
The PC report also specifically recommended relaxing controls on so-called “grey” imports of second-hand cars, noting that Australian consumers are being fleeced, particularly when it comes to purchasing higher-end vehicles. In its report, the PC noted that “a survey of prices for second hand Toyota Corollas found that vehicles of similar mileage were on average almost 20 per cent cheaper in New Zealand than in Australia”.
New Zealand imports around 95% of its used cars from Japan, according to NZ Transport Agency data. And the last time I checked, Japan was a highly developed country with excellent vehicle standards, whereas New Zealand did not have a widespread problem of defective vehicles on its roads.
With the local car assembly industry closing in a few months, there is little rationale in restricting used car imports. The Government should have, therefore, followed New Zealand’s lead and allowed grey imports, thus increasing consumers’ spending power and potentially lowering the average age of Australia’s vehicle fleet.
AutoExpert.com.au has a good rant on the subject:
