MIA responds to Clean Car Discount changes

The Motor Industry Association (MIA) has expressed its concern regarding key changes made to the Clean Car Discount which were announced by the New Zealand Government this morning.

It released a statement saying that some of the changes are welcomed but it’s worried that they will adversely impact the new vehicle sector.

A welcome criteria is that the Clean Car Discount eligibility criteria remains the same, including the $80,000 price cap, but the MIA says its disappointed that its request for the creation of a specific light commercial vehicle cap at $85,000 was a “step too far”.

This means light commercial vehicles are “disproportionately” impacted by the new fee charges for high emitting vehicles.

However, MIA’s most significant concern is when the changes are expected to come into play. It states that the inception date of 1 July 2023, just under two months away, will cause difficulties for the new vehicle industry for two reasons.

The first reason is that because certain cars have long wait lists which involve customers paying deposits in advance and already have an expectation of what price they will pay. MIA’s second reason relates to “forward supply orders that have already been committed to by new vehicle importers and distributors”.

It says a longer notice period for the Clean Car Discount changes would have helped the industry prepare better and adjust orders.

MIA anticipated that rebates would be reduced while fees would be increased, but in reducing the threshold at which a vehicle receives a rebate from 146g of CO2 per km to 100g, almost all hybrid vehicles will no longer qualify. This means the only cars that will be eligible for a rebate would be fully electric or plug-in hybrid vehicles.

With regard to this, MIA expresses its concerns about the impact of sales of non PHEV hybrids in case sales drop, and therefore, negatively impact the downward trend of CO2 emission improvements in New Zealand.