Toyota Australia wants to find a way to prevent people from buying its most supply-constrained vehicles with the aim of selling them at a premium.
These so-called hitters have thrived in a car market where shortage and all-time high demand conspired to stretch wait times into years – allowing them to take advantage of people queuing back for miles.
Sean Hanley, Toyota Australia’s Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Franchise, this week called on regulators to look at ways to help crack down on these speculators just to make a quick buck.
“We want to discourage any form of reselling and short cycling,” Mr. Hanley said.
“We think it’s important that we take a leadership position on this especially right now. We’ve spent decades building trust around our brand, and it’s unsettling to think that we have a handful of people who are cycling short for cash.
“I think we need to protect our customers from those kinds of behaviors, as much as we can.”
Mr Hanley said the TMCA has the means to intervene if dealers cross the line by charging RRP fees on brand new vehicles – although there’s little to stop anyone from selling a copy. Demo low mileage to get prices specified by basic supply and demand.
“Our problem is that resellers ride short bikes, run to scale,” he added.
“Trust is everything right now. And the only thing that got us through COVID and the reason we’re sitting here enjoying what we’re enjoying in the Toyota brand right now is trust built not over two years, but built over many decades.
“We have seen behaviors, some beyond our control, some within our control, that do not necessarily align with the values we have learned.
“Five years ago, we wouldn’t have had that discussion with anyone. [Now] I’m happy to have that discussion. And I want it to change. I would like this situation to change where the customer is paying a fair and equitable price based on the manufacturer’s retail price position.
“Used cars are another matter, but for a new car I don’t want customers to overpay and we plan to investigate everything we can within our jurisdiction. the Australian Consumer Competition rules to try to put that together.
“And I urge governments and authorities to please consider this proposal and what is happening in the market right now because we all want to protect consumers, but this is still the case. happenning. We have to work together to say “hey, this has to stop”. “
Another issue is agency delivery fees, which are recommended but not enforced by law.
Mr. Hanley stated: “We have a very strict control over the agent’s delivery fee.
In February of this year, Toyota Australia said it would also take a dim view of its franchisees advertising excessive prices on demos – the almost-new LandCruiser 300 Series, for example. listings with huge price increases on classifieds sites.
But legally, there’s little that can be done to control used car prices.
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