New car buyers in New Zealand are being warned by automotive distributors that the Ardern government’s next wave of changes to its Clean Car Standard on January 1, 2023, will see some steep price increases.
Subaru New Zealand managing director Wallis Dumper believes that the changes are going to have a sweeping effect on vehicle pricing across the industry.
In a statement issued about Subaru’s updated Outback 2.4T, Dumper said he expected the model to be lumped with “additional costs” when the CCS changes are applied on January 1, 2023.
“CCS will not only affect Subaru, but the entire NZ automotive industry and the reality is that come 2023, many new petrol engine cars may cost customers thousands more than they do today,” he said.
“To the best of our knowledge, at the time of writing, any vehicles crossing our border after December 31st, 2022, will have the CCS fees applied.
“We have limited stock available, therefore respectfully ask potential customers to get in touch with their local Authorised Subaru Centre to put down a deposit – or register to be kept informed about pricing, the specific arrival timing and the imminent CCS deadline.
Dumper added that he expects “extra fees to be applied to most new petrol engine cars early next year, as part of the government’s ambition to be carbon neutral by 2050”.
Subaru is the second brand in New Zealand in recent times to acknowledge the likelihood of prices for popular models rising when the more aggressive CCS targets come into force.
Ford New Zealand managing director Simon Rutherford made similar comments at the recent launch of the updated Ranger, saying that the company will “probably” have to increase the prices of the best-selling ute to counter CCS penalties.
“The challenge for us is pulling the appropriate levers to manage the demand side of the structure,” Rutherford said, adding that price rises are likely coming “for us and probably our competitors as they cross the line into 2023”.
The CCS is set to force brands to reduce the emissions of their fleets by 40% by 2025, forcing a rate of change that numerous people across the new and used car industry have said is too rapid for companies to keep up with without passing price rises onto consumers.
In 2023, the standard’s limit will be lowered to 139g of carbon per kilometre travelled. It will then sink further to 128g in 2024, before dropping significantly to 105g in 2025. Firms that offer vehicles with emissions well over the target will need to balance them by offering low-emission options that improve the average of their fleet.
Subaru has already confirmed that it will soon offer a dedicated electric vehicle in New Zealand, in the form of the Solterra SUV. It is scheduled to go on sale in April of next year.
It was recently confirmed that just three car brands in New Zealand, Honda, Hyundai, and Suzuki, have fleets that currently meet the CCS’s 2023 targets based on 2022 sales so far.
Subaru was ranked 12th according to data, based on information from the NZ Waka Kotahi Transport Agency, with an 185.19g/km average.
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