5% off Euros on 1st jan 2005 !

From January 1, all imported passenger cars will pay 5 percentage points less duty to the Government on the value of a car at the factory gates. The tariff reduction has already prompted many manufacturers to either hold or drop their prices or add extras to convince customers that they are passing on savings.

But the big four companies - Toyota, Ford, Holden and Mitsubishi - which make cars in Australia and import them, are holding off on price changes.

Their hesitance leaves room for nimble Japanese and Korean rivals to grab market share as Australia races towards the 1 million car sale mark next year.

The largest importer of passenger cars, Mazda, yesterday slashed its prices by at least 3.5 per cent. Nissan is adding more features such as an extra passenger airbag and free ABS braking systems, as well as holding prices on its most popular model, the Pulsar. Honda and Hyundai are expected to add features for free.

Car importer Mazda has moved to cut prices across its range to reflect changes in tariff arrangements due to come into force in January.

The company is the first to make public its new pricing strategies which reflect the fall in tariffs on imported models from 15 per cent at present to 10 per cent from January 1.

The price reductions, taking effect now, range from $660 to $3,150.

The biggest cut applies to the company's flagship RX-8 sports car while its top selling model, the Mazda 3, will be $800 cheaper.

Mazda Australia managing director Doug Dickson said it was a case of Christmas coming early for car buyers.

"From today Mazda is passing on the tariff price cuts that come into affect on January 1," he said.

It just goes to show how much the car manufacturers are ripping of the public, it just means more money for them.

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Originally Posted by Type R Positive

It just goes to show how much the car manufacturers are ripping of the public, it just means more money for them.

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agree man..... especially the government's heavy importing tax...

if the manufacturers reduce the average price of new cars, then sure they can sell more. if they sell more brand new cars, the price in 2nd hand market will reduce too, everyone is winner then... hehehhe...... :D

Cheers

I remember reading an article in Wheels magazine on this tariff reductions, and they contacted the car manufacturers and most of them said that they wouldn't reduce the prices, but rather just add in a little extra accessories. I.E., making you pay for something you don't need (or could get included in the price if you bargained).

I am not really an expert when it comes to this stuff so please rebuttle my statement, however my dealer mate told me that only cars made in Thailand (Honda Civic and the 'other' Accord to name a few) will probably have any savings incurred due to the Free Trade Agreement recently made with Thailand?

Kind of misleading to title this thread "5% off Euros on 1st Jan 2005" :!: . Honda has not announced anything remotely like that. They may simply keep the price the same and not pass on the extra cost of 17" rims, no space saver, etc.

Lets see what happens.

Here's some info on the price cuts from some manufacturers.

http://carsguide.news.com.au/news/st...E21822,00.html

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Originally Posted by Euro_Boy

I am not really an expert when it comes to this stuff so please rebuttle my statement, however my dealer mate told me that only cars made in Thailand (Honda Civic and the 'other' Accord to name a few) will probably have any savings incurred due to the Free Trade Agreement recently made with Thailand?

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I belive this 5% cut in import duty is for all new cars (except 4wds as they already have concessions) and is separate to any free trade agreements we have with other countries.

I would love to see a discount! image if Honda passed on the full 5% discount onto the Euro luxury auto? You are looking at a $2000+ discount which would be sweet. Instead, I bet they will do what others have said and put on bigger rims etc and keep the price stable. This is crap because they would have increased specs on the Euro anyway in line with their 2 year model refresh and the price would have stayed the same. Now they get to hide behind this and pocket an extra 5%.

The 5% discount in tariffs is ONLY ON THE IMPORT DUTY that the manufacture EG: Honda will be paying on cars as they are imported in to Australia. This is not a discount on the entire purchases price. There fore only relates to a very small drop in cost and i very much doubt there will be any large drop in priecs. I know Honda has already said they will not be lowering their prices.

~LUKE~

According to this article http://www.autoweb.com.au/cms/A_103248/newsarticle.html The tarrif is dropping from the current 15% on imported vehicles down to 10%. That sounds to me like a potential drop of about 5% of the entire price of the vehicle - so about $2000 for euro luxury.

from the article:
"... the Federal Government’s move to reduce the tariff on imported cars from 15 to 10 per cent from January 1. ..."

mm so does that mean i can get my Mazda RX-8 even cheaper?

When i got a quote from the same guy i got my euro off, the quote was basically 1000 less than SRP of Mazda RX-8 luxury, and that was including OTR :)

i still love my euro tho :)