The ongoing COVID pandemic continues to have an adverse effect on the international supply of new vehicles, and AA Motoring recommends enquiring about that car you want now if you want it in time for Christmas.

A combination of shipping delays and global semiconductor shortage is to blame for the latest setback in the motoring industry.

In the United States, Ford recently cancelled shifts at two of its car plants and said profits could be hit by up to USD $2.5 billion this year due to chip shortages, while Nissan is idling output at plants in Mexico and the US. Toyota and General Motors have also had some factory downtime in 2021.

Toyota New Zealand have been heavily affected, with a list of over 10,000 back orders.

“We are doing our best to get more stock into New Zealand. However, our top priority must be continually communicating with our valued customers and keeping them informed of any delivery delays,” said Steve Prangnell, Toyota New Zealand General Manager of New Vehicles and Product Planning.

“The effects of COVID-19, closed borders and delayed shipping and logistics into New Zealand are impacting all operational areas of the local business,” he added.

“We are experiencing demand like never before, especially for our hybrid variants and seeing customers opt to wait upwards of six months for vehicles like the RAV4 hybrid in order to get what they want.”

There’s currently a four to six month wait for Toyota customers wanting some of the more popular models, with an average wait time of 16 weeks.

“The problem we are facing is we are now at more than 10,000 back orders and we just can’t get the supply to be able to fill these in a fast manner,” Pragnell said.

“We currently have over 350 orders on our new generation Highlander, without customers having even seen a demo vehicle in the Store.”

The delay in bringing new vehicles into the country is also having a knock-on effect with the used car market, which only adds to the shipping delays we’ve already been experiencing over the last 14 months.

Other popular new cars in short supply include the popular Kia Sportage, which went from 346 sales in March to just 87 in April.

In fact, the demand has proven to be so great for the mid-size SUV that Kia has taken the unprecedented approach and delayed all future orders, with the below message now appearing on Kia’s website:

Thank you for your interest in Sportage, orders of the current (QL) model have exceeded our 2021 production allocation, therefore we have stopped all promotional activities for the current model. An all-new fifth generation Kia Sportage is expected in 2022, further information including registrations of interest will be available very soon.

Clean Car Discount Programme

The Government’s recently announced Clean Car Discount Programme has the potential to shake up supply too, as demand for rebate-worthy EVs and PHEVS under $80k ramps up from July.

We also anticipate an increase in demand for less efficient vehicles (those with a CO2 efficiency rating above 192g/100km) that are destined for additional fees come 1 January 2022, subject to the legislation being passed.

Visit nzta.govt.nz/vehicles/clean-car-programme for more information.   

AA Preferred Dealer Network

Did you know that AA Motoring recently launched its AA Preferred Dealer Network?

The Network is a select group of dealers which the AA has taken through a thorough review and selection process. The vehicles in their yards have been through a series of checks conducted by the AA, and offer a level of service which the AA back and trust.

AA Motoring intends to keep growing the AA Preferred Dealer Network to help motorists nationwide have extra confidence when choosing their next used car.

The majority of the vehicles on an AA Preferred Dealer Network yard will have been through the following AA checks:

• AA Odometer Verified window sticker (freshly imported vehicles)
• AA Entry Compliance
• AA Appraisal

The Network of dealers are currently found in Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Mt Maunganui, Napier, Wellington and Christchurch.

Visit aa.co.nz/preferred or call us on 0800 500 333 for more information.