Penalties urged for gas-guzzling cars

Motorists should be given cash incentives for buying more fuel efficient cars and penalised for purchasing inefficient vehicles, a business group says.

The New Zealand Business Development Council for Sustainable Development is calling on the Government to look at ways to get motorists to look after the environment.

The Incentivising Greener Vehicles report suggests an incentive of up to $3000 for new and imported vehicles in the top two classes of fuel efficiency at their first registration.

A $2000 dollar penalty would apply for cars which were considered "fuel inefficient".

Chief executive Peter Neilson said petrol price increases had helped push sales for smaller and more fuel efficient vehicles.

But for many individuals and businesses, the higher purchase cost of these vehicles, particularly the hybrids, had stopped them making the move.

While the higher fuel efficiency compensated in part for the difference in price with standard vehicles, research showed that petrol prices would need to reach $4 a litre to eliminate the difference for a new car purchaser.

However, with several cities failing to meet air quality standards, it was time for a change, Mr Neilson said.

"Government reports show a high rate of premature deaths and illness in New Zealand due to the effects of vehicle pollution."

The average New Zealand car was "much less fuel efficient, more polluting and less safe" than models being produced in Europe and Japan.

He denied that the policy would "benefit the well-off and penalise owners of big cars".

"This would be a win-win with companies getting the benefit of paying less and the individual getting a bonus for making the shift," he said.

If 40 per cent of new registrations met the energy efficient standards, the council estimates the cost to the Government of the incentives policy would be $97 million a year.

Green co-leader Jeanette Fitzsimons, spokeswoman for sustainable economics and energy, said the report echoed exactly the recommendations of the party's "feebate" policy released before the election.

The plan, part of the Green's policy to deal with the challenge of peaking oil supplies and climate change, included a rebate on annual registration for vehicles coming into the country that were more efficient than the average. It calls for a graduated fee for those that are less efficient.

However, Ms Fitzsimons said today: "It's very important that you don't apply this to vehicles that are already in New Zealand."



"You can't do anything about them to make them more fuel efficient and it's not particularly efficient to just throw them away and make new ones."

Applying the penalty fee retrospectively would also penalise those on low incomes, who could only afford to buy cheaper cars, she agreed.

"But ultimately everyone will benefit because it would change the mix of vehicles coming into the country, shifting the market away from gas guzzlers to more efficient vehicles and giving us a more efficient fleet."

The business group's report is being sent to the Government for consideration.

- NZPA