Utes now stand a chance of meeting revised targets; EVs and low emissions fare potentially not as vital.

UTE buy-in that barely lapsed during the Clean Car regime might well pick up now Government has diluted the emissions standard, bringing it in line with Australia, to annoyance of electric car advocates.

Government said today it decided to throttle back standards aimed at improving the fuel efficiency of new cars, on grounds saying the original schedule was too strict for car importers, who have long also said it went too far.

Transport Minister Simeon Brown says new standards will be the same as Australia's, because the two countries are effectively one car market.

 Brown says the new implementation, labelled the Clean Car Importer Standard, will ’provide the vehicle import market with certainty and ease cost of living pressures on Kiwis the next time they need to purchase a vehicle’.

Like Clean Car that ran under the Labour Government, the standard still aims to limit the average carbon dioxide emissions from the tailpipes of new cars brought into the country. 

However, the original targets are all now softened; on grounds those for next year through to 2029 would be increasingly difficult for importers to meet and would cost car buyers thousands per vehicle in upfront costs.

The big alteration is to the light commercial sector, which involves one-tonne utilities that are predominantly diesel-powered. 

Brown’s dismantling of Clean Car Discount at end of last year was to protect sales of utes, which are primarily sold in turbodiesel form that deliver high CO2 emissions.

That ever stopped the most popular type, Ford’s Ranger, from often being a monthly best seller and also achieving as the country’s top selling new vehicle during time when it was hit with big emissions penalties.

Another strong performer was the Hilux, whose availability was carefully kept in check by Toyota New Zealand, while it also went hard with its low emissions hybrid fare; a strategy to keep sweet with Clean Car. 

Under the National-led coalition, the need to be as Green has considerably eased as the CO2 averages now being set aren’t as tough. So will Toyota reconsider its product plan?

The target for next year is now 223 grams of exhaust smut per kilometre; a figure achievable by some utes now; the best performer in the segment is the Ranger 2.0-litre biturbo diesel, which emits 211-218g/km. 

Under the old rules, the target would have been 115g/km - well below the cleanest diesel ute.

The 2026 target under Labour was 116.3g/km. Now it’s 207g/km. Beyond that, the annual expectations are 175g/km, 144g/km and 131g/km.

Passenger car CO2 targets also alter: 112.6g/km next year, 108g/km in 2026 and 103 the year after. Under Labour, the latter target was expected to be achieved next year,  84.5g/km in 2026 and 63.3g/km in 2027.

Clean car advocates saw the changes coming when the Government has hastened these amendments. It recently moved to pass the Land Transport (Clean Vehicle Standard) Bill through Parliament under urgency.

Drive Electric, a pro-EV lobby group, has decried the changes, saying the weakening standards would only lead to people being locked into higher petrol and diesel bills for decades to come.

It says that although the Motor Industry Association helped guide the Government into these changes, it believes one brand  that is against loosening the guidelines. 

That’s China’s BYD, which only makes electric-involved vehicles and conceivably stood to do well with its forthcoming electric-assisted Shark utility, which delivers low CO2.

Drive Electric also believes that if NZ is going to copy Australia’s CO2 rules, it should also it should also copy our neighbour’s 'comprehensive' incentives to buy EVs.

Average tailpipe emissions from new cars entering NZ has risen since the Government scrapped subsidies for buying EVs. Drive Electric is among those who believe the Clean Car Standard was the one remaining tool for shifting towards a cleaner fleet.

Brown said advice provided to him by the Ministry of Transport found that under current targets, penalties for importers were forecast to amount to about $800.6 million of cost to consumers purchasing a new car in 2027 or about $5549 per vehicle.