Law changes likely to push up car prices

By SCOTT MacLEOD transport reporter

The Government is to impose tough crash standards that will put newer, safer and more expensive cars on the roads.

The rule, to be announced today, forces car dealers to import vehicles that meet "frontal impact" standards and effectively will stop them bringing in Japanese cars built before 1994.

It could save at least five lives a year, the Government says.

Some industry groups estimate the cost of the average used car could rise by up to $4600, but others challenge that figure and say it is worth paying slightly more for a safer vehicle.

At present, cars built after March 1, 1999, must meet international frontal-impact standards before they can be registered here.

The new rule means all cars imported after next April 1 will have to meet those standards, though four-wheel drives, utilities and classic cars will be exempt.

Japan, which supplies most used cars to New Zealand, started building cars with airbags, advanced seatbelts and impact-absorbing "crumple zones" that meet the rule between 1994 and 1996.

Importers who ship in Japanese cars older than that will not be able to register them.

Transport Minister Mark Gosche said frontal-impact systems were the biggest advance in vehicle safety since the seatbelt.

He cited figures predicting the rule would prevent 85 deaths, 405 serious injuries and 1560 minor injuries over 18 years.

The Land Transport Safety Authority has estimated that the cost of used cars would rise by $4600.

Spokesman Andy Knackstedt said that although motorists might pay more for their vehicles, they would be much safer.

Used-car importers said price rises were inevitable.

The chief executive of the Independent Motor Vehicle Dealers Association, David Lynn, said his members would have practical problems when buying used cars overseas.

Some bid on 100 cars a day, and little information was available at auctions on each vehicle's safety standards.

Mr Lynn estimated the number of cars his members could bid on would plummet by 40 per cent, and the drop in supply would push up prices. Paint shops and vehicle transportation firms in New Zealand would be hit by the flow-on effects.

Mr Lynn and the LTSA estimate that 50,000 of the 120,000 used cars imported last year would have been barred under the new rule.

But the Motor Industry Association, which represents new-car importers, said any price rise would be tiny.

Chief executive Perry Kerr said the $4600 figure was "absolute garbage", and there would be barely a ripple in car prices.

He welcomed the rule but preferred a "rolling age ban" on used imports so none could be imported if more than seven years old.

Mr Gosche said having fewer deaths on the roads outweighed the cash cost - and he was very doubtful of some of the price-rise estimates.

"It's one thing to do the theoretical work and another to have an eye for the market," he said. "And newer vehicles are much safer than older vehicles."

The rule is likely to curb one criticism of the present system - that the average age of used imports is becoming older. Figures issued yesterday show the average age has crept up from 6.1 years in 1996 to 7.5 years.

The 820,000 vehicles on New Zealand roads that were made before 1996 will not be banned under the rule, because they are already here.

But some will be affected by a clause in the rule that says all airbags in cars up to 14 years old must be replaced if they are damaged or deployed.

Mr Gosche said the limit was set at 14 years because it was hard to get replacement airbags for cars older than that.

Today the Government will also announce a new rule for tyres and wheels.

It says that space-saver tyres can be used only in an emergency, that drivers must follow manufacturers' guidelines for speed and tyre pressure when using space savers, and that they cannot exceed 80 km/h when using them.