As of the 1st of April 2022 the NZ government has introduced the ‘Clean Car Discount Scheme’.

The NZ government aims to achieve net zero CO2 emissions by 2050 and in order to do so they need to significantly reduce the emissions that derive from the transport sector.

The scheme has been introduced with a goal of lowering the cost of electric & fuel-efficient vehicles by offering an incentive in the form of a rebate, so if you have a fuel efficient or electric vehicle then you could receive up to a whopping $8625.00 paid back to you by the NZ government at the time of registration - that would more than cover the cost of the shipping!

On the flip side of this, the government have introduced a fee for high emitting vehicles, so all imported cars, vans, SUV’s & 4wd’s with a gross mass of less than 3500kg that emit 192 or more grams per kilometre of CO2 will now attract a fee at the time of registration, the maximum fee is $2875.00

Vehicles emitting between 147 and 191gm/km will be zero rated and will neither get a penalty or a rebate, however all limits are set to reduce each year.

More information can be found here - https://www.transport.govt.nz/area-of-interest/environment-and-climate-change/clean-cars/

So, the question then becomes - what does that mean for your car and how do you work out if you get a rebate or need to pay a fee?

The RightCar website (https://www.rightcar.govt.nz/) provides a searchable database of vehicles by type, make, model, or number plate. This allows you to look up the CO2 emissions, and what rebate or charge could apply to different vehicles, if you become the first registered owner of that vehicle.

We’d recommend searching for your specific vehicle in the database and checking whether or not you’ll be getting a rebate, paying a fee, or if your vehicle will be zero rated.

We've done some research and listed out a few popular makes and models to give you a quick glance at that this means for certain vehicles:

• Holden Commodore Diesel (2017 - 2020) - No rebate or fee
• Hyundai Tuscon Diesel (2015 - 2021) - No rebate or fee
• Tesla Model 3 (2019 - New) - Possible rebate of $3450.00 - $8625.00
• Hyundai Kona SUV (2018 - New) EV - Possible rebate of $3450 - $8625.00
• Mercedes Benz GLC SUV (plug in Hybrid) - Possible rebate of $2109.66 - $5635.00
• Holden Commodore Petrol (2017 - 2020) - Possible fee of $388.13 - $2875.00
• Hyundai Tuscon Petrol - Possible fee of up to $1782.50
• Nissan Navara (2015 - 2021) - Possible fee of $2070 - $2760
• Ford Focus Petrol (2010 - 2018) - Possible rebate of up to $583.72

The other thing to consider is that the vehicle’s that do incur a fee are generally the vehicles that are worth substantially more over in New Zealand than they are here in Australia, and these values will likely only increase as those types of vehicles become more and more scarce in the coming years. So it could be well worth it to still consider taking it across to New Zealand and to pay the fee, you could already have tens of thousands of dollars in instant equity in the car.

We hate surprises, especially expensive ones! So best to make sure you understand the costs in their entirety before making the decision to ship - If you have any questions or would like us confirm the possible rebate or tax on your car, or if you would like a quote to move anything across to New Zealand then please don’t hesitate to get in touch.