Concerns grow about ageing car fleet

New Zealand's car fleet is on average more than 13 years old, causing increasing safety concerns because it is dominated by vehicles bought in the mid 1990s, the Motor Industry Association (MIA) says.

While the number of vehicles reaching the end of their reliable life is on the rise, there is also a shortage of new vehicles.

"In fact the fleet will continue to age due to New Zealand's unique age profile and in particular the abnormally large number of 1995, 1996 and 1997 vehicles (which represent 21% of the total market)," MIA chief executive Perry Kerr said. "This uneven lump will stay in our market for the foreseeable future."

There were more 1990-aged vehicles on the roads than vehicles registered new in 2010, he said.

"With an average age of now over 13 years the majority of the vehicles are reaching the end of their reliable service life. At the other end of the spectrum with very low sales of new vehicles in 2008, 2009 and 2010 there is a shortage of good quality, low mileage New Zealand new vehicles," Mr Kerr said.

That was good news for used importers and owners whose vehicles will keep their value, but bad news for people wanting to buy a new car, he said.

Given potential safety issues, the government needed to consider a national vehicle scrappage scheme funded by a small annual levy.

The Ministry of Transport ran a pilot scrappage scheme in Auckland in 2007, and in Wellington and Christchurch for four weeks in 2009. The scheme offered incentives and the chance to win a new car.

The trials showed a national scheme was unlikely to be cost-effective due to the low number of vehicles received, and had relatively low social and environmental benefits relative to the costs, a ministry spokesman said.

Countries with scrappage schemes generally did so to support their domestic vehicle manufacturing industries, he said.

The ministry was instead investigating ways to raise public awareness of scrapping as an option.

Ministry officials were considering how to improve the safety of New Zealand's vehicle fleet, as older cars generally had fewer safety features and provided less protection in a crash, he said.

The country's vehicle fleet increased 0.6% in 2010 compared with 2009, according to NZ Transport Agency data. In contrast, the number of registered mopeds and motorcycles declined 8.8% and 5.5% respectively, probably due to owners not relicensing their bikes as a result of higher ACC levies.

The number of registered taxis fell 2.7% over the year and was flat over the decade.

The average age of a used import as it arrived in 2010 was 7.94 years, slightly older than in the previous year (7.87 years.)