Vehicle traders news

28 February 2024

Hello kia ora everyone

We hope 2024 has had a great start for you. In this second issue of Vehicle Traders News, we set out the details of some legal changes taking effect soon. If you’re a vehicle trader, this is essential reading for you.

We’re also updating you on our latest efforts to increase public awareness of vehicle safety ratings and crash avoidance features, plus the results of a dealership survey last year. This is good information for vehicle traders to be aware of so you can discuss it with your customers.

You’re welcome to forward this onto your contacts who may be interested in this information. And if there are topics you’d like us to cover or explain, just let us know – scroll to the end to find our email address.

BEVs and PHEVs to start paying road user charges

Road user charges will soon apply to battery electric vehicles (BEVs) including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs).

This means that any of these vehicles you sell on or after 1 April 2024 must have a current road user charge (RUC) licence. It's an offence to sell one of these vehicles without one.

Light BEVs will pay RUC at $76 per 1000km, while PHEVs will pay $53 per 1000km. The PHEV rate recognises that they also pay tax through petrol.

Helpful tips for vehicle traders

• Include how much RUC has already been bought as part of on-road costs (ORC) in your sale agreements.
• For vehicles sold before 1 April with delivery after that date, make sure the buyer knows the vehicle is subject to RUC.
• From 1 April, you can buy RUC online for BEVs and PHEVs via the NZTA website, in person with an NZTA agent, or, through your usual processes. The minimum purchase is 1000km.
• Let buyers know that they’ll need to maintain a RUC licence and keep it up to date.

For more information, including a definition of which vehicles will be subject to RUC, see our website.

www.nzta.govt.nz/ruc-ev

For more information about RUC in general, visit:

www.nzta.govt.nz/about-ruc

The Motor Industry Association (MIA) has published a glossary of different vehicle types that you may find helpful:

Vehicle classifications

Please contact ruc-ev@nzta.govt.nz if you have any questions.

Safety rating labels survey results

More than 6 in every 10 vehicles on registered motor vehicle dealers’ sites displayed a current safety rating label, according to our first nationwide survey completed late last year.

This is a pleasing result, which shows many dealers recognise the value of voluntarily promoting safety ratings and helping to get more people into safer vehicles.

Based on analysis of the data from around 300 dealerships selected at random for the survey, we found vehicles with higher safety ratings were more likely to have a safety rating label displayed, compared with vehicles rated as 1 and 2 star.

While there was no discernible difference between the proportion of labels displayed in franchise dealerships compared to independents, the survey indicated there is an opportunity for some brands, segments and regions to be more proactive.

Dealers can expect to hear more on this from motor vehicle industry associations who are supporting our efforts to increase voluntary label uptake further.

Thanks again to all the dealers who permitted the independent research company to visit their sites last year. We had an almost 100% participation rate, which is really great – thank you!

You can find out more about vehicle safety rating labels on Rightcar.

Safety rating labels

If you have any questions about the survey results, please email safevehicles@nzta.govt.nz

Tyre stewardship fee starts 1 March 2024

From 1 March 2024, when you register a vehicle for on road use for the first time, you'll pay a tyre stewardship fee. The fee for tyres attached to road registered vehicles will be collected by NZTA and will go towards collecting and recycling tyres at the end of their life.

This is part of the Tyrewise scheme which will be fully operational from 1 September 2024.

The fee replaces the ad-hoc tyre disposal fee currently charged by some garages.

For smaller vehicles with a set amount of tyres, you'll pay one fee for the vehicle. For larger vehicles that could have a variable amount of tyres, you'll pay a fee for each tyre. You can find information about the fee on our registration fees webpage.

Registration fees – NZTA website

Tyrewise is managed by the Ministry for the Environment and also covers loose tyres, and those attached to off-road vehicles and aircraft. Those fees will be collected by the Ministry. For information about tyre product stewardship, see:

Tyre stewardship – Ministry for the Environment
Factsheet for motor vehicle importers - Tyrewise

New vehicle safety campaign

Have you seen our new road safety campaign focused on vehicle safety?

Appearing in a range of media channels, it aims to raise awareness of vehicle safety ratings. The ultimate goal is to help get more people into safer vehicles, which modelling shows will achieve some of the biggest reductions in deaths and serious injuries on our roads.   

The advertising features a range of ‘cardboard’ vehicles to highlight people's vulnerability in low safety rated vehicles and address some misconceptions about what makes a vehicle safe. All the ads promote visiting the Rightcar website to check vehicle safety ratings – it’s the best indication of how a vehicle will protect people in a crash. 

Registered motor vehicle traders are uniquely positioned to help inform people about vehicle safety. If you’re a trader, you can display safety rating labels on your vehicles as well as promote Rightcar to your customers and other people you care about. 

Check out the dealer resources on Rightcar for all the information you need, including learning how safety ratings are determined and why they change over time.

If you have any feedback on the new campaign, we’d love to hear from you, please email safevehicles@nzta.govt.nz 

Dealer portal on Rightcar 
 

Vehicle Exhaust Emissions Amendment changes coming

There are law changes to the exhaust emission standards for some used and new imported cars and trucks. These changes take effect from 30 April 2024. You need to understand these changes if you import any of the vehicles listed below.

• Petrol imported vehicles (except disability vehicles) of vehicle classes MA, MB, MC, MD1, MD2 and NA - commonly known as passenger cars, vans and utes from Japan - that are border inspected from 30 April 2024, must meet an exhaust emission standard of Japan 05 Low Harm or Japan 2018 or higher. Petrol vehicles with a Dxx emission code must be first registered anywhere on or after 1 January 2012. From 30 April 2024, these codes for petrol vehicles will be acceptable to import: Dxx (first registered on or after 1 January 2012), 3xx, 4xx, 5xx, 6xx, 7xx or higher.
   
• Diesel vehicles from Japan must meet an emission code of Lxx or higher. The codes are: Lxx, Fxx, Mxx, Rxx, Qxx, 3xx, 4xx, 5xx, 6xx, 7xx or higher.
   
• For other jurisdictions, like Europe and Australia, used petrol and diesel vehicles that have been border inspected or are newly manufactured from 30 April 2024, must meet emission standards Euro 5, US Tier II and ADR 79/04.
   
• Vehicles classes MD3, MD4, ME, NB and NC - commonly known as heavy trucks - that are border inspected from 30 April 2024 must meet Euro V, US Tier II or ADR 80/03. Used vehicles of these classes imported from Japan will need to meet the following emissions codes: Lxx, Fxx, Mxx, Rxx, Qxx, Sxx, Txx, 2xx, 3xx, 4xx, 5xx, 6xx, 7xx or higher.
   
• Vehicle classes LA, LB, LC, LD and LE - commonly known as motorcycles and mopeds - will need to meet and emission standard only from 30 April 2025. These standards will be Euro 4m, US2010m or Japan 2012m. The Japanese codes for these are: JBK, EBL, JBH or EBJ.

If you have any questions about this, please contact vehicleemissions@nzta.govt.nz

The Land Transport Rule: Vehicle Exhaust Emissions Amendment 2023

New crash avoidance features videos

Anyone can make a mistake when driving, and that’s where crash avoidance features can help keep us all safer. These features are shown in some new videos published on Rightcar we hope you’ll watch and share.

The short, animated videos follow “Sam” on various journeys discovering how features like automatic emergency braking (AEB) and lane keeping systems can help prevent the most common crash types in Aotearoa.  

We recommend vehicle buyers consider safety ratings and crash avoidance features – all detailed on Rightcar – whenever they are in the market for a new or used vehicle. 

Let us know what you think of the videos.  We hope you will share them with your customers, whānau and friends too.

Crash avoidance features videos

Really interested in crash avoidance features? You can read Monash University Accident Research Centre findings on their benefits.

Research: Potential for AEB to reduce road fatalities
Research: Driver-assist systems and young drivers

More information

To find out more about the topics covered on the newsletter or to share your feedback, contact us on vehicletraders@nzta.govt.nz