Earlier this year, the Government introduced a subsidy for people buying used and new electric vehicles (EV).
The subsidy discounted new EVs by $8265 and by $3450 for used EVs.
Your Next Car Dunedin owner Steve Warrington said prices for second-hand EVs had "gone through the roof’’ in Japan.
The hike in prices was caused by competition between dealers trying to secure enough cars to cater for demand.
"EVs are almost unpurchaseable over there at the moment ... because they are selling them for more than we can retail ... over here.’’
That was starting to have an impact on prices in New Zealand, he said.
The New Zealand Herald reported the median selling price for used cars had increased by 35% or $3975 over the past two years.
The median price in July this year was $13,494, up from $9971 in July 2019.
It also reported yesterday that September was New Zealand's second-strongest month ever for new vehicle sales.
Last month there were 16,518 vehicles sold compared with 10,902 vehicles in September 2020.
Mr Warrington believed the price increases for EVs were along the same lines.
There was still demand from potential car buyers, Mr Warrington said.
"I wouldn’t say it is buoyant but, with fuel prices going up, they are starting to think about fuel efficiency more so they are more interested in the EVs.’’
He believed the Government should have put the subsidy on hybrid vehicles first.
"The supply of hybrids in Japan is excellent because there are a lot more makes and models to choose from and, for the EVs, there is basically only the Nissan Leaf which limits the market down" Mr Warrington said.
Lloyd Wilson Motors had stopped importing cars from overseas because it was too difficult to get them into the country because of freight issues.
Owner Lloyd Wilson said they were focused on second-hand cars already in New Zealand.
"You have cars on order [from overseas] and you don’t know when they are going to arrive" he said.
The increased cost of importing cars, which included an increase in fuel prices and a doubling in the price of containers, was having an impact on the sale price in New Zealand, Mr Wilson said.
Slower delivery times for new cars into New Zealand was also leading to delays in second-hand cars being released into the market, he said.
Auto Court director Nelson Cottle said for the past few months it had been a struggle to import cars from Japan.
Almost all of the Dunedin car yard’s stock was sourced direct from auctions in Japan, which were also struggling with supply issues.
The number of cars at the auctions was down by a third.
That was caused by a global shortage of semiconductors, which were critical parts for EVs, and fewer new cars coming on to the market in Japan, Mr Cottle said.
There was still "reasonable demand’’ from people buying second-hand cars.
"Getting them in to sell them is the issue" Mr Cottle said.
- Additional reporting NZ Herald
