It’s no surprise that the new-vehicle market was down 90 per cent for April 2020 compared with the same month last year: just 1039 registrations. Of the 30 days in the month, only three were out of lockdown, allowing dealerships to make contactless sales.
“That distributors were able to sell as many as they did was testament to their determination to partially re-open for business while maintaining strict health and safety processes,” says Motor Industry Association (MIA) chief executive David Crawford.
The top models for the month were the Kia Seltos (95), Toyota Hilux (59) and Holden Colorado (38). Kia was also the top brand with 16 per cent market share (169), followed by Toyota at 13 per cent (132) and Suzuki with 10 per cent (102).
The MIA has identified three key areas where it says the Government can fast-track policy and play a “decisive role” in getting the industry on the road again.
Vehicle scrappage
“We all know we have an old fleet, with numerous polluting and unsafe cars roaming our roads,” says Crawford.
“We believe it is time for the Government to provide financial incentives to remove the vehicles which are older the 20 years of age and/or where their exhaust emissions standards are the equivalent of Euro 3 or less.
“This would also be in line with the new road safety strategy and the Government’s climate change objectives.”
Plug-in vehicles
The MIA says the Government should accelerate the uptake of plug-in vehicles across its fleet. Crawford says the uptake has to date been “less than modest at best”. The MIA is calling on Government to increase budgets to permit individual departments to increase their numbers of bith pure-electric and plug-in hybrid fleet cars.
Feebates
The MIA has previously been in favour of a proposed “feebate” scheme, where more polluting vehicles are fined, which funds a discount for cleaner cars. But with the economic impact of Covid-19, it’s now calling for a review.
“It is our view that the Government should defer the introduction of a feebate scheme and instead provide incentives for fuel efficient vehicles, to be reviewed in 2023.”