New Zealand used car market

If one is in the market for a used vehicle, the obvious place to go to is a Japanese used car market. There is no doubt that Japanese are more devoted towards their work, hence the end result are always a vehicle that one feels proud to drive. Popularity of Japanese vehicles is not confined only to Japan, almost every country in the world import used Japanese vehicles. The country is known for producing high quality reliable vehicles for decades. New Zealand has always been a major importer of Japan used cars. The low mileage, excellent quality, and reasonable prices makes used vehicles from Japan popular across the country. According to the data from the Ministry of Transport, used vehicles that are imported in the year 1990 are still on roads. The average age of New Zealand’s light fleet is 13.2 years.

Generally commercial vehicles are imported in the country. Most popular commercial vehicle imported in New Zealand is petrol-powered van. In 2014, the imported used commercial market was up by 19% compared to last August, and up 32 percent year to date. Toyota is most popular Japanese model imported in New Zealand. In the commercial vehicle segment, top sellers are Toyota Hiace, Nissan Caravan and Toyota Regius. The most popular used car model imported in New Zealand is Nissan Tiida in 2014, according to the September car sales figures. Around 577 imported used Nissan Tiidas were sold in September only. This was followed closely by the Suzuki Swift and the Mazda Axela, with 542 and 508 imported used models in September respectively. Along with the used car segment, the used motorcycle segment of the country also increases in 2014. In the year 2014, it was up by 25 per cent to 2,152 compared to 2013s figure of 1,722.

While importing a used vehicle in the country, there are certain regulations that are to be followed by the importer to make customs clearance smooth. The vehicle imported should not be more than 8 years old from the date of manufacturing while it is imported in New Zealand. Vehicles with ancient history, tampered odometer, and with rusty body or chassis are prohibited. All used vehicles imported are subjected to quarantine inspection on arrival in the country. New Zealand permits the importation of right-hand drive vehicles only, but left-hand drive vehicles are also permitted in special cases. If the used vehicle imported does not qualify for concession, then they are subjected to the Goods and Services tax (GST) of 15%. The importer should provide evidences that the vehicle meets a range of approved standards for the type of vehicle before it can be registered in the country for use.

New Zealand import many used vehicles within a year. In 2012, around 173,000 motor vehicles were imported in New Zealand. Out of which, forty two per cent were used and were mainly from Japan. In the year 2014 only, New Zealand imported around 80,700 Japanese used vehicles. There are assumptions that in comparison to last year, used car market will expand almost double this year. New Zealand has always been a major importer of Japanese used vehicles. The used car market of the country is particularly strong. In fact, used Japanese cars are cutting heavily into sales of new cars. The used car market of New Zealand is very vast and growing at rapid rate, hence offers opportunities to used vehicle exporters to make a fortune.