'Clunkers' scheme could work here

Toyota New Zealand chairman Bob Field wants the Government to set up a US-style 'cash-for-clunkers' scheme. Photo / Hawke's Bay Today

Toyota New Zealand chairman Bob Field wants the Government to set up a US-style "cash-for-clunkers" scheme - to transform the country's vehicle fleet from a "global laggard" in car emissions to a potential world leader.

He said New Zealand's CO2 emissions increased by more than 70 per cent between 1990 and 2006 - the highest rise among OECD countries and more than double the global average.

"Much of that increase was caused by a disproportionately high level of vehicle ownership and the fact that our vehicle fleet was one of the oldest around the OECD," said Field.

Recovering from the global credit crunch requires a major deleveraging of household debt. "If we are to pay our way in the world we can only justify a car ownership density that has some relationship to our national wealth - or GDP per capita."

Simple economics may force New Zealand to reduce car ownership levels by up to 25 per cent to around 450 cars in 1000 people, he said.

"In the short term, New Zealand has the promising outlook of having a smaller and greener car fleet by simply scrapping the nation's oldest and dirtiest vehicles."

Such a scheme would help ensure that the nation's wider climate-change goals were met. "This could encourage and compensate owners for scrapping their old and high-emission vehicles."

The fund could be made fiscally neutral by applying a higher registration fee on vehicles with poor fuel efficiency.

Field said the ultimate low-emission vehicle technology was likely to be a plug-in hybrid. "But this would only make sense if the electricity grid sourced its power from a low-carbon source.

"Plugging cars into the New Zealand electricity grid overnight at cheaper rates provides a unique opportunity to achieve an international best-practice mobility model in the medium to long term."