Lobby group wants rules urging importation of low-emission used cars relaxed

RNZ News

03-08-2025

The Imported Motor Vehicle Association wants the government to change the rules for how it sets the clean car standard charges.
Photo:
123RF
A lobby group for secondhand car importers believes rules that encourage low-emission cars from overseas are doing more harm than good.
The clean-car standard charges importers with high-emitting vehicles and gives credits for eco-friendly cars that can be used to offset costs.
The scheme came into force on 1 January, 2023 with an aim to increase the number of low and no-emission cars in New Zealand's vehicle fleet.
The Imported Motor Vehicle Association said its data showed used light-vehicle imports had fallen 22 percent year-on-year and were now 25 percent down on 2023 volumes.
While it acknowledged that other international factors had contributed to the downturn for imports, it believed the Clean Car Standard had a disproportionate impact on availability and affordability.
It wanted the government to change the standard by removing its formula for how the rules came up with whether a car met or did not meet emission targets, reducing the targets and coming up with smaller penalties to maintain supply incentives, without pricing vehicles out of reach.
Chief executive officer Greig Epps said the standard encouraged people to buy cars in New Zealand's current vehicle fleet, rather than import them.
"That goes against everything we are trying to do with carbon reduction, because the younger the vehicle generally, the more efficient it is and the better for the environment."
Epps said, if cars were just held onto, rather than being replaced with newer cars, then no environmental benefits would be made.
Transport Minister Chris Bishop said he was aware that the number of used-imported vehicles coming into New Zealand continued to fall and that the decline began in 2017.
The decline was influenced by factors such as higher vehicle prices at Japanese vehicle auctions, the current economic climate and consumer demand, Bishop said.
He was seeking further advice on the clean-car standard and whether it was working as intended.
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