Anger as NSW P-platers banned from safe cars

THE Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) has refuted allegations made by car importers that the representative body was ignoring key issues such as the new provisions affecting P-plate drivers in NSW.

Senior managers from several overseas brands told GoAuto this week that the FCAI had become too "local manufacturer-centric", claiming Ford Australia, GM Holden, Toyota Australia and Mitsubishi Motors Australia dominated quarterly meetings between the FCAI and the industry and that specific importer issues were routinely ignored.

This is despite the fact that the importers have their own group within the FCAI structure.

The main issue raising the ire of importers GoAuto spoke to this week concerned the FCAI’s response to the widely criticised NSW Roads and Traffic Authority’s ban on vehicles that can be driven by P-platers.

None of those who were critical of the FCAI would be named. One said: "We haven’t seen them do anything for a long time." This was a suggestion strongly rejected by FCAI executive director, Peter Sturrock, as well as the head of the FCAI’s importers group (and Subaru Australia chairman) Trevor Amery.

Mr Sturrock said he had not heard of any specific importers being unhappy with the FCAI and said if they did have any concerns they were free to raise them with the importers group or the FCAI directly.

"If someone has issues, they do know where I am," Mr Sturrock told GoAuto. "If they want to speak to me they certainly can." According to Mr Sturrock, all 23 importers are welcome members of the importers group and all are invited to the quarterly meetings.

"We get about three-quarters attendance on a regular basis," he said. "Four of the importers sit on the chamber board, alongside four from the manufacturers.

"Those four from the importers are elected representatives by the importers." They include Mr Amery, Ateco Automotive managing director Ric Hull (representing Alfa Romeo, Citroen, Ferrari, Fiat, Kia and Maserati), Honda Australia director Lindsay Smalley and Porsche Cars Australia managing director Michael Winkler.

Mr Amery, who has been a member of the importers group for several years, said it had specifically tried to include representatives from Japan and Europe, as well as both larger and smaller importers.

Regarding the NSW RTA’s 98-page "hit list", several importers believe the FCAI, and the importers group, could have been more strident in voicing objections to the classification of certain vehicles on the list – and were critical of what they perceived as a lack of response.

Among the banned cars for P-platers are the Saab 9-3 and 9-5, Volvo XC70 and XC90 as well as a long list of Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz vehicles, including the modestly powered C180K hatchback and sedan.

These vehicles are widely acknowledged as some of the safest cars on the road. However, because they have either a turbocharged or supercharged engine, or a higher-displacement naturally aspirated engine such as a V8, the RTA has classified them as dangerous and therefore unable to be driven by a provisional licence-holder.

"There was a perception by the FCAI that this was a state issue, not a federal one," one importer said.

Another importer said that, contrary to RTA claims, there had been no open dialogue with importers over this issue.

Mr Amery told GoAuto he had not been made aware of any concerns from specific importers.

"I’m not aware that Peter (Sturrock) has had a view expressed to him that anyone has been unhappy," Mr Amery said.

He also said he had not been aware of any importer discontent over the P-plate issue, and that if any unhappy, they had not told him.

Mr Sturrock claimed that he, too, had not received any negative feedback.

"We met the last time in August and we had quite a good roll up to that meeting and covered a lot of issues," he said.

The FCAI had a chamber board meeting in Canberra last week, attended by importers’ representatives.

GoAuto understands the importers group is due to meet next month before the Christmas break.

Mr Amery chairs the importers group, who along with Ford Australia president Tom Gorman, is a vice-president of the FCAI.

Mr Sturrock said all issues relating to importers were important to the FCAI. All get invited to the meetings, are issued with agenda papers and receive the full minutes of all meetings.

"Everyone gets the details of the meetings, if they attend or don’t attend," he said.

NSW locks P-platers out of 3200 cars - including some of the safest on the road

WHEN the NSW Roads and Traffic Authority’s ban on P-platers driving "high performance" vehicles came into force from July 11, there were howls of protest from the car industry and from road safety experts.

It now appears some importers are still seething over what they perceive was a lack of consultation over the banned list.

The RTA list has more than 3200 banned new and used cars on it, and includes some of the safest cars on our roads.

The general opinion was that the new rules had been introduced despite any clear empirical evidence that they would reduce young driver crash rates, injuries or deaths.

The NSW system bans V8s, turbocharged and supercharged vehicles, as well as vehicles with engine modifications and high-performance six-cylinder vehicles.

By contrast, the Victorian system, which also restricts young drivers’ access to high-performance cars, does so on the basis of power-to-weight and engine capacity-to-weight ratios.

Several vehicles are exempt from the RTA list. These include the full range of Smart vehicles and diesel-engine vehicles, but confusion arises because some diesel-powered vehicles remain on the list.

Not surprisingly, the diminutive Suzuki Cappuccino, which uses a 698cc turbocharged engine, and Daihatsu Copen, which uses a 659cc turbocharged engine, are also exempt.

However, the Daihatsu Charade (model years 1994 to 1998), powered by a 993cc turbocharged engine, is banned.

Both NSW and Victoria offer exemptions when a young person’s family owns only one car but both states require an application to be exempt.