Import duty from Japan to be removed

[rj_astra]

Just do away with ADR, then watch the cost go down and maybe (depending on how the manufacturers play the transfer price game) price of cars go down to their true value.

ADRs are already mostly harmonised with EU regs. For any particular ADR there will be a alternate reg (EU or US) that is satisfactory.
Removing ADRs wouldn't reduce prices.... look at the USA. Their design rules differ to ours and the EU (bumper strength, lights, side markers, emissions standards) - yet car prices their are low (even for imports)

[TJ Shermuz]

Its looking like import restrictions might be lifted, but in a way we didnt imagine, for cars less than 3 months old. Seems a lot of people have been complaining there merc costs 50k more in australia than in the rest of the world. So in order to combat price gouging from local distributors they are thinking of lifting import restrictions for those models. The idea being if its 50k cheaper to import your c63 from the uk brand new, merc australia will either drop the price here 50k, or people will import boat loads of them from the UK.

Anything that makes cars less money here is alright by me.

mport Regulation Changes UPDATE

The final Productivity Commission Report into Australia's Automotive Manufacturing Industry is due to be released by the Govt. this month. This will set out various recommendations regarding the future of Australia's Automotive Industry. Based on the draft report there may also be recommended changes to the current import regulations to allow more vehicle models to Australia, providing consumers with more choice and lower prices.

As part of gathering public and industry comments for input into the review, the Commission conducted 5 public hearings, the transcripts of which are available at this link should you wish to read them in their entirety:

http://www.pc.gov.au/projects/inquiry/automotive

Without pre-empting the conclusions of the final Report, we thought we would share with you some of the more interesting comments from those writing the Report, which gives an indication of their thought process. Comments are from one of the two Adelaide hearings, and are selected excerpts with other comments and questions removed -- see above link for context and to read full transcripts.

MR M. WOODS, Presiding Commissioner
MR P. WEICKHARDT, Commissioner

MR WOODS

There is pressure from some quarters to increase the numbers of second-hand vehicles coming in and so from our point of view the question is can it be done safely and with consumer protection and a range of other issues and what are the benefits of that happening?

...and let's suggest the sort of really extreme position here, and you
limited imports of second-hand cars to cars that were less than three months old, where provenance could be absolutely guaranteed and certified by an independent authority, where harmonised standards suggest these cars in future might meet Australian design rules - and I know the Australian design rules are under review at the moment, but there is a prospect in, you know, three or four years’ time that we
will be harmonised with a European standard. You've talked about, on your website, I think, the fact that your testing is now becoming harmonised with Euro NCAP.

In those circumstances where we did have harmonised design rules with
Europe and therefore you could be reasonably confident that a brand new, let's say,

MR WEICKHARDT: But if there is as big a price gap as people have suggested, then one of two things will happen: either people will take advantage of that gap and they will import cars and they will take the risk that there are some issues that will affect them; or alternatively, the gap won't turn out to be as great as is alleged, because the sellers in Australia will bring down their prices to counteract that gap, which has of course happened in a number of areas. Digital cameras in Australia used to cost 50 to 100 per cent more than they cost in Asia; that gap has almost
completely been eroded, as I understand it now, by people simply importing their cameras from Asia and, surprise, surprise, the local providers have decided to price at the Asian price.

MR WEICKHARDT: But you don't think that risk could be mitigated, to start with, by setting a very tight age limit and setting a limit on the number of countries that cars came from, for example.

MR WEICKHARDT:
So one of the points that was made to us before the position paper was written was that if there is such a differential in terms of new car pricing where manufacturers, particularly at the upper end of the market are deciding Australian consumers can afford to pay and will pay, then the issue becomes how can you try and ensure consumers get the best deal whilst protecting things like safety and other standards, environmental standards without giving rise to consumer detriment. Now, you've raised, and other people have raised, the issue that if you buy a vehicle overseas you don't know its provenance, you don't know the standard by which it's 20/2/14 Automotive 329 R. DUDLEY and C. DUCKWORTH been made, you may not get recall notices, there are all sorts of risks.

But I have put it to several people who have appeared before this Commission that you can hypothetically imagine - and this is imagine - opening the doors just a chink and, say, allowing people to buy a vehicle overseas or have an agent buy it for them overseas, insist that the vehicle came from a country where its provenance is well known and where the safety standards are well known and indeed where in future Australian design rules might well be aligned with their design rules, let's say, Europe. If one were to see cars no more than three months old imported into Australia, I find it difficult to see that our environmental standards and safety standards are likely to be compromised by people bringing top-end Mercedes, BMWs, Audis or whatever into this country.

Now, of course, there might be two consequences of opening the door just a chink like that. One is that the local manufacturers suddenly decide, "This is stupid, we'll adjust our prices so it's no longer worthwhile anyone importing those cars," or the people who import them might decide that in fact this price differential is quite illusory and it's not worthwhile doing it. But it would be one opportunity to put to rest whether Australian consumers are being exploited by the regional pricing strategy of the major motor suppliers and I wouldn't have thought it was beyond the
wit of man to devise a set of regulations around that that would protect consumers from the detriment that might arise. You've talked in your submission about the fact that local service people refuse to get involved or acknowledge a car that was bought overseas.

...increasingly we're living in a global economy where you have to start looking at things like fuel standards and say, "Does it make sense for Australia to have separate fuel standards?" The number of refineries that
we've got in Australia is declining on a pretty regular basis and it may well be in the future that the fuel standards are harmonised, the car safety standards are harmonised and in those environments one would have thought that it might well be the case that if I can get somebody internationally to acknowledge that, yes, I bought that phone from a certain supplier and they'll treat me as if I'm one of their customers, that the same might happen with cars.

[I'm DJ!]

That would be awesome.

[rj_astra]

The above scenario would have to be balanced with the existing local distributors having no warranty, recall or spare part support for these parallel imported cars.

[irsa76]

Yep, and it doesnt allow for bullbars, UHF aerials, spotlights etc.
Australia was going to sign up to it until the 4wd groups all chucked a stink,

Neither do ADRs for new vehicles, they're accepted by state registration. And there are specific ADRs for bullbars and driving lights, same as in the EU. The ADRs for auxiliary driving lights were pretty much copied from the relevant ECE regulations last time I looked, most driving lights sold in Australia aren't actually legal anyway since they don't comply with the ADRs.
The only unique ADR that I can think of is the one about cigarette lighters only being operable with the ignition on, I saw a mention of a cut off relay on a VW wiring schematic saying Australia only.

[TJ Shermuz]

The above scenario would have to be balanced with the existing local distributors having no warranty, recall or spare part support for these parallel imported cars.

Still, Uk RRP would put a c63 at 100k instead of $160 local price.

Thats a lot of money to fix any small problems you may have, and of course if the cars come, the company's will spring up to look after them, aftermarket warranty will be sold... etc

[Bob Vegana.]

The above scenario would have to be balanced with the existing local distributors having no warranty, recall or spare part support for these parallel imported cars.

How can you not have spare parts support?

If you can already buy the car here by other means, chances are, you can get parts for it.

[irsa76]

How can you not have spare parts support?

If you can already buy the car here by other means, chances are, you can get parts for it.

Back in the day Toyota would not touch grey imports, some dealers still won't touch them.
But these days if I need a part I'd only use the local dealer if I need it fairly quickly and they have it in stock or I cbf contacting a dealer OS.
Hell, I can order parts for my thing direct from Citroen bypassing the Australian importer completely, after I pay the fairly modest fee.

[WRXCORE]

Luxury Car Tax has also been hinted by the Govt to be removed but with that
generating the best part of $1 Billion in revenue annually we won't hold our breath
on that...

This is the one that needs to be removed..... or at least double/triple the threshold limits.

[dnegative]

Didnt Nissan refuse to sell GTR parts without a ADM VIN?

[frog_a_lot]

The only unique ADR that I can think of is the one about cigarette lighters only being operable with the ignition on, I saw a mention of a cut off relay on a VW wiring schematic saying Australia only.

My car (2012 jeep) has a Cigarette lighter plug at the back that is not connected to the ignition.. works anytime..

[Bob Vegana.]

In this day and age, part numbers can be gotten (is that even a word?) hold of pretty easy, or you can usually use a VIN off an Aus-delivered car if the part happens to be the same.

[Bob Vegana.]

My car (2012 jeep) has a Cigarette lighter plug at the back that is not connected to the ignition.. works anytime..

My '06 Transporter is the same.

[fly510]

Didnt Nissan refuse to sell GTR parts without a ADM VIN?

The local Nissan dealer made it difficult to buy parts for my 32 GTR. Ordered stuff online and it was half the price and arrived in 4 days from Japan.

I still don't understand the attitude from Nissan.

[Bob Vegana.]

The local Nissan dealer made it difficult to buy parts for my 32 GTR. Ordered stuff online and it was half the price and arrived in 4 days from Japan.

I still don't understand the attitude from Nissan.

You've only got to see the popularity of certain imports to realise that manufacturers have made some foolish oversights.

I recall having a discussion with some knobhead from TMCA about them. It was a lop-sided anti-import chat, mind you. Couldn't really get much of a word in. One interesting thing he mentioned was that the JZA80 Supras were very close to being brought here as a full-volume import. What held it back apparently, were the bean counters not liking the costs of some trivial modifications.