From the wharf to the driveway, VIA has spent 2025 challenging rules that don’t fit the used-import supply chain.
As 2025 draws to a close, it is worth taking a clear look at what VIA has been doing for the industry, what has shifted, and where the real battles still lie.
This has not been an easy year. We have been dealing with the ongoing pressure of stringent Clean Car Standard (CCS) settings, while at the same time working through the detail of repair certification, damage flags, exhaust emissions mapping, and now the prospect of mandated safety features. None of this is glamorous work, but it all flows straight through to your yards and your customers.
From groundwork to interim wins
A lot of what we achieved this year was built on the groundwork laid in 2024.
On exhaust emissions, we challenged why new vehicles met Euro 5 compliance with Japan 2005A code vehicles for about a decade, but used imports were suddenly required to meet the tougher Japan 2005D code when the rule shifted in April 2024. No one could give a straight answer. That challenge has finally forced NZTA to start an internal review of how standards are mapped between Japan and Europe – slow progress, but important given Euro 6D is looming around 2028.
On the CCS, we spent 2024 engaging with the Minister of Transport and the Ministry of Transport on the original settings and the subsequent realignment with Australian targets. That realignment was a partial win, but slowed our push for a more realistic pathway.
Those conversations set the stage for 2025.
The CCS settings have been simply too hard for used imports. They drove a sharp drop in volumes and pushed costs onto traders and everyday Kiwi families. As usual, the data lagged what you were seeing in real time. Our job this year was to turn those experiences into evidence officials could not ignore.
The result is the package of interim relief that takes effect from 1 January 2026: lower penalty rates for 2026–27 and extended credit life and credit trading. These changes are welcome and they will ease some of the pressure. But they are not the win. They are a tourniquet while we deal with the underlying problem – CCS targets that were never designed for a used-import supply chain.
Two markets, two supply chains
A big shift this year has been our attempts to get officials to recognise what you have always known: the new-vehicle sector and the used-import sector are two different markets with two different supply chains.
New vehicles are ordered from manufacturers, months or years in advance, with a high degree of control over model mix and specification. Used imports are picked from global second-hand stock that has already been produced, based on decisions made in Japan 10–15 years ago.
We do not really compete with new-vehicle importers, and they do not really compete with us. We serve different customers with different budgets and different needs. Trying to apply a single policy framework across both markets is a big part of why the CCS has been so destructive for used imports.
Pushing that “two markets” story, with evidence, has been central to our advocacy this year. It is also the key to what happens in 2026.
Repair certification and damage flags – grinding away at cost
On the compliance front, we have seen tangible movement.
Our long-running challenge to the blanket removal of underbody sealant led to a proper review of the practice by the Low Volume Vehicle Technical Association (which oversees the Repair Certifiers Association). That work showed that less than a quarter of vehicles revealed a real issue once the sealant was removed, meaning three out of four were being blasted for no good reason. NZTA has now updated repair certification guidance, and we are seeing fewer LT308s and more LT307s. It is still a cost, but a lower and more rational one.
At the same time, changes to the damage flag process have driven roughly a 70% increase in flags being applied at the border – many of which are then removed in New Zealand at entry inspection. That suggests to us that the system is over-triggering without a clear safety benefit. Our next step is to sit down with industry and NZTA to redesign the process, starting from a simple question: what problem are we actually trying to solve?
Looking ahead: 2026 and beyond
The real work lies ahead in 2026.
First, the formal CCS review will be the main opportunity to reset the system for used imports. Our objective is straightforward: a standalone CCS regime for used vehicles, distinct from that for new. It will still involve penalties and credits, but the targets and trajectories must be calibrated to the stock we can actually source from Japan and the customers we serve. We are building the modelling, led by Kit’s work, to show Government that a realistic used-only pathway still delivers meaningful carbon reductions by 2050.
Second, we need to see genuine progress on emissions mapping before Euro 6D takes effect. If NZTA continues to treat Japanese standards as second rate, rather than as strong, credible standards in their own right, the 2028 transition will be needlessly painful for used imports.
Third, we need to fix the damage flag regime and keep pressure on ongoing repair certification refinements. Every unnecessary flag, every unnecessary repair cert, is a cost that ends up on someone’s invoice – often a family trying to buy a safer, cleaner car.
Finally, we are responding to the consultation on mandated safety features, due 17 December. Our concern is simple: officials are assuming that many advanced features were ubiquitous in Japan earlier than they actually were, and are proposing a July 2027 implementation for used imports on that basis. This needs to be corrected with real data from the Japanese fleet, or we will again see supply squeezed and prices driven up.
Changing the culture, not just the rules
Across all of this, our approach has been consistent. We are not just complaining about rules; we are asking regulators to explain what they are trying to achieve, how they monitor results, and whether their tools are actually working.
That mindset – evidence-based, persistent, and focused on practical outcomes – is slowly changing how officials think about used imports. It has given us interim wins in 2025. With your support and your front-line evidence, it can also deliver the structural changes we need in 2026.