Used vehicle industry facing months of delays

Supply chain disruptions and MPI inspections at the border are having a big impact on used vehicle importers who are having to wait up to two months for stock to arrive from Japan. 

Autohub chief executive Frank Willett says the situation is “unfortunate” however he is hoping things return to normal in the next few months “fingers crossed”. 

Willett says there is already a four-to-six-week delay in Japan for shipping and imports then face delays of up to a week at local ports and then another “several weeks” for vehicles to go through compliance workshops. 

“There are the normal number of RoRo vessels arriving from Japan at present, however, they are facing delays upon arrival due to often arriving too close to each other, MPI onshore verification taking quite a bit of time, COVID procedural measures, and possibly Americas Cup shipping lane closers from time to time.

“Further compounding issues for the used import trade are delays in getting stock from Japan to NZ due to shipping lines clearing the backlog of new vehicle orders to Australia and NZ.

“Unfortunately, all issues appear to be creating a perfect storm by the time cars arrive at compliance, as they are doing so with little forward notice and given the volumes currently, often bottlenecks and backlogs occur there also,” Willett says. 

VINZ chief executive Sean Stevens says from the vehicle inspection perspective, “delays are evident in terms of flow”. 

“I think the main delay at compliance shops is partly due to ESC and partly due to availability. 

“What is entering the country is newer but with higher kms and requires more repairs. This combined with an increase in focus from the regulator means that the overall failure rate at entry has increased. 

“This in turn puts pressure on repairers and certifiers to turn vehicles around in a timely manner, causing backlogs,” Stevens says. 

Meanwhile, border staff have been subject to more rigorous COVID risk management however Ports of Auckland spokesperson Matt Ball says MPI inspections are having the biggest impact there. 

One recent RoRo vessel was in port for nine days as its whole cargo of around 1800 vehicles was inspected. By comparison, this would usually take one day to unload, Ball says. 

COVID-19 has impacted MPI inspection of vehicle imports with seven MPI officers returning to New Zealand from Japan in March last year.  

All verification inspections of arriving used vehicles now take place at Ports of Auckland. 

MPI says it has introduced a range of measures to further mitigate biosecurity risk which includes:

• Vessel discharge plans that ensure all parties involved are working together to manage biosecurity risk
• Restricting the number of vehicles and the manner in which they can be discharged at any one time from a vehicle carrier
• Mobilising officers across Auckland to support the variable workloads
• Restricting initial vehicle discharge to one port (Auckland), which has the best infrastructure to manage biosecurity risk. 

“We have made it clear to industry that compliance with New Zealand’s biosecurity requirements helps avoid delays at the border,” MPI says.