Ideas proposed by the Productivity Commission and a recent Government discussion paper have seen slammed as ‘ill-thought out, unworkable and misguided’ by the VACC, the peak automotive industry body in Victoria.
“As Australia prepares for the closure of automotive production in 2017, the entire automotive industry needs time to adjust and discuss with the Federal Government strategies to take the industry forward. Instead, we are hit with one pointless hair-brained idea after another, from politicians, the Productivity Commission and other social commentators,” VACC executive director, David Purchase, says.
According to Purchase, the calls made to bring in used car imports and enable consumers to directly purchase new cars from overseas have been made in the name of red tape reduction and increased consumer choice.
“But the reality is it would bring the exact opposite, with so many problems that motorists and businesses would become bogged down in paperwork and consumer detriment would escalate,” he adds.
“It is frustrating because many of these ideas are generated by people with little or no automotive industry experience, and the Government appears to be reluctant to speak directly to the automotive industry itself. Mixed messages also cause confusion and some consumers might delay the purchase of their new cars in light of this public debate.
Purchase believes the setbacks of having consumers buy cars online from overseas themselves without any form of regulation, would have many adverse effects for the automotive industry.
“It would have been clear that any thought of enabling consumers to buy overseas vehicles directly, with no regulatory regime in place, with no safety, security or consumer rights considerations, with no thought to guarantees or warranties, and with no indication of how or when the Australian Design Rules will be amalgamated or overtaken by international standards, not to mention service, repair and component parts issues, you really wonder what our politicians and so called automotive industry experts are doing,” he notes.
“VACC members and our sector are robust, dynamic and not afraid of change or competition. However, we are concerned about lurching from one baseless idea to another, groping in the dark for a solution, when the answer is staring everyone in the face: come and talk with the automotive industry first,” Purchase says.
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