Archives: Media Releases

The peak body representing Australia’s franchised new car Dealers has welcomed the Government’s release of a draft Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) to address Australia’s franchising system.

“There is a clear imbalance in power between new car Dealers and the global Manufacturers to which they are franchised,” said AADA CEO James Voortman.

“The release of today’s RIS is another important step in achieving greater fairness in the relations between franchisees and franchisors,” he said.

“We are encouraged by a number of options put forward in this RIS, but none is more important than the proposal to introduce an obligation on the franchisor to ensure franchisees receive a return on significant capital expenditure,” he said.

“Franchised new car Dealers are required to invest large sums of capital in facilities and equipment, but all too often they are provided with shorter-term Dealer Agreements, making it almost impossible to recover one’s investment,” said Mr Voortman.

“The RIS has also provided options to limit the ability of franchisors to unilaterally vary agreements; expand the options for dispute resolution and clarify franchisees rights in terms of goodwill,” he said.

Achieving better protections for franchised new car Dealers in their relations with OEMs is the AADA’s highest priority. The AADA will be pursuing this goal through various government processes, including:

• the establishment of automotive specific franchising regulations;
• reform of the Franchising Code of Conduct;
• class exemptions for franchisees to engage in collective bargaining;
• reform to unfair contract terms;
• reforms to the relations between suppliers and Manufacturers in relation to the Australian Consumer Law.

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New car Dealers turnover almost $60 billion worth of sales, they collect billions in government duties and charges and employ more than 58,000 people in electorates across Australia.

The Australian Automotive Dealer Association’s DealerNomics website has been updated to reflect the revised federal electoral boundaries and the newly elected members of the 46^th Parliament.

DealerNomics now also has more specific electorate information and for the first time it quantifies the number of apprentices employed and the community donations that Dealers make.

The AADA has also revealed Australia’s federal electorates in which new car Dealers make the largest economic contribution, with the top 10 made up exclusively of large, regional electorates.

South Australian seat of Barker tops the list with new car Dealers in the electorate employing almost 1,600 people with a total annual economic contribution of $333 million. In second place is Barker’s neighbouring seat of Grey while the rest of the top five is rounded out by the Victorian seat of Mallee, the Western Australian seat of Durack and Parkes in New South Wales.

“New car dealerships are present in just about every federal electorate, but there are more franchises in the electorates which are large by area, demonstrating the commitment of Dealers to service rural and regional communities,” AADA CEO James Voortman said.

“Dealers are crucial local businesses in country towns. They are often family businesses who employ locals and sponsor local footy teams or community groups,” said Mr Voortman.

“This interactive mapping tool demonstrates the significant reach of franchised new car Dealers throughout Australia as well as at the state and territory level,” he said.

“We will be encouraging our members to pay their local Member and/or Senator a visit and demonstrate to them through DealerNomics, the important contribution which car Dealers make in their electorate,” he said.

“Governments are in the process of considering a number of regulatory issues which will have a significant impact on the future of car retailing in Australia. It is important for decision makers to understand the scale and breadth of the industry before implementing any regulations,” he said.

 

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The peak body representing franchised new car Dealers has welcomed the Morrison Government’s commitment today to make Australia’s new car retailing industry fairer for Dealers and consumers.

“We very much welcome the Government’s commitment to level the playing field between Australian new car Dealers and powerful offshore Manufacturers,” AADA CEO, James Voortman said.

“The existence of a power imbalance has been clearly demonstrated through various inquiries and reviews and today’s announcement that there will be reforms to automotive franchising arrangements is a significant step in the right direction,” said Mr Voortman.

“These reforms will address end-of-term and capital expenditure arrangements, which are key issues that have been raised regularly by our members. We will also be urging the Government to address issues of tenure and consumer law issues,” he said.

“The AADA will be working closely with Ministers Andrews and Cash, the Department of Industry, Innovation, and Science and other industry participants to make sure that the reforms are implemented,” he said.

“The AADA has worked tirelessly to develop broad support for industry-specific protections for franchised new car Dealers and the Minister’s announcement today represents significant progress,” he said.

“Reform in the Automotive retailing sector enjoys the support of the Government, the Opposition, the Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, the Franchising Council of Australia and most bodies in the Automotive sector,” he said.

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The peak body representing Australia’s franchised new car Dealers has welcomed the establishment of Parliament’s Joint Select Committee on Road Safety.

“We support the establishment of this Road Safety Committee and look forward to contributing to its work and enquiries,” said AADA CEO James Voortman.

“New car Dealers play an important role in raising the level of road safety in Australia through the provision of newer, safer cars to Australia’s motoring public,” he said.

“Safer vehicles is one element of the Safe System approach and it is important that we strive to bring down the age of our vehicle fleet. Research released by the ABS this week shows that the average age of both passenger cars and light commercial vehicles has increased over the past five years,” said Mr Voortman.

“Our members also make passenger vehicles safer every day through servicing and maintenance work, and by fixing major problems through the vehicle recall campaigns, as we have been doing with Takata airbags,” he said.

“However, there is always more we can do to make Australia’s roads safer, and we look forward to meeting with the Committee members, appearing at its hearings and contributing to the work of the Committee in any way we can,” said Mr Voortman.

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The Australian Automotive Dealer Association (AADA), has received policy plans from both major parties in response to the Driving Our Future Election Campaign.

“The AADA asked both parties to address the four policy priorities including a fairer automotive industry; affordable new vehicles; ruling out used car imports; and a consumer focussed emissions policy,” AADA CEO David Blackhall said.

Each response has been ranked on a scorecard (see below) to illustrate each party’s commitment and on this occasion the two parties could not be separated.

“We are delighted that both sides of politics have provided an election commitment to introducing a code of conduct for the retail automotive industry. This is the number one priority for new car Dealers and we look forward to working with the future Government and Opposition to make this commitment a reality,” he said.

“Unfortunately, there are no specific policies to remove legacy taxes on new cars, which disadvantages consumers, but we note that Labor’s Australian Investment Guarantee has the potential to make certain vehicles more affordable for businesses,” he said.

“Both parties have ruled out expanding the regime for used car imports. However, we remain concerned that there may be unintended consequences arising from regulations currently before the parliament. We will work with whoever forms government to address these concerns,” said Mr Blackhall.

“On the question of vehicle emissions, there is a distinct lack of detail from both sides, but we are pleased that each party has clearly stated they will work with industry in formulating vehicle emissions policies,” he said.

After the Election, the AADA will work closely with whoever wins government to advance the interests of the Automotive Industry.

AADA Questionnaire

ALP Response

Coalition Response

AADA Election Campaign Wesbite

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