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NEWS
Import your own bike with new laws
Consumer’s gain is the industry’s loss in changes to personal import laws, which will come into effect from 2018From 2018 Australians will be able to bypass dealerships and import their own new or near-new motorcycle following changes to the Motor Vehicle Standards Act announced overnight (February 9).
The changes will allow individuals to personally import a new vehicle from right-hand drive markets (Japan and UK) once every two years. The vehicle must be less than 12 months old and it must have less than 500km on the clock.
Under the comparable standards subhead, passenger vehicle imports are restricted from Japan and the UK due their right-hand drive similarity, although Bikesales understands Australians will be able to import new or near-new motorcycles from any market with similar or comparable standards to Australia, including Europe and America.
The news comes just eight weeks after the government rejected the Productivity Commission’s recommendation to relax the laws governing grey and parallel imports. The commission argued with the 2017 closure of all Australian-based car manufacturers (Toyota, Holden and Ford) the need to protect them with personal import regulations lessens and the laws should reflect this.
While the changes essentially offer more choice for consumers, Australian motorcycle importers and their respective dealerships remain wary of the changes, saying there’s potential safety and warranty risks at stake and unless there are regulations implemented around the transparency of a bike’s origin, the second-hand market is likely to suffer.
Bikesales spoke to various importers this morning who were all still assessing the impact the changes may have on their businesses and weren’t in a position to comment.
The Minister for Major Projects, Territories and Local Government, Paul Fletcher, told ABC’s AM he’s not expecting a lot of people will make use of the newly opened channels of new vehicle ownership.
"We don’t think the numbers will be massive. Our modelling suggests about 30,000 vehicles will probably come in under this," he said. "We expect the vast majority of Australians will continue to buy cars from the existing manufacturers and dealer networks, but this will give choice; for example, if you might be interested in buying, let’s say, a diesel variant of a model where the manufacturer only makes the petrol variant available in Australia."
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Written byBikesales Staff
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Please see our Editorial Guidelines & Code of Ethics (including for more information about sponsored content and paid events). The information published on this website is of a general nature only and doesn’t consider your particular circumstances or needs.
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