Japanese used car

ars are a bargain, according to the Motor Industry Association.

Even with the Yen plummeting to new lows against the New Zealand dollar, used import dealers are reported to be struggling to find stock at low enough prices to enable them to be competitive in the New Zealand market.

“The used import trade is definitely coming out the other end of the cycle,” said Perry Kerr, CEO of the Motor Industry Association.

“Importers had a false market for fifteen years because they exploited the price gap that existed between the Japanese used car market and the overpriced New Zealand market, which was the way it was because of excessive import duty and sales tax on new cars,” Mr Kerr said.

“Now there’s a level playing field, because there hasn’t been any duty on new cars for seven years, and this is now reflected in the prices of new cars as well as New Zealand - new used vehicles.”

The New Zealand market is now experiencing the fact that importers are attempting to retail ten year old cars for 8, 9 and 10 thousand dollars, because that’s the minimum figure that will return them a reasonable profit on top of the purchase price in Japan and all the fixed costs.

READ MORE…