Nov 29
Comment of the day - CBC report
Great piece on the CBC National on November 27 – thank you Havard and CBC. Another dirty little secret came out that manufacturers are also trying to keep prices for new cars elevated in Canada to prevent used cars from being significantly devalued. Lower prices for used cars means the manufacturers are going to take a significant hit (loss) on their lease returns. We also heard that automobile manufacturers are graciously dropping their prices in Canada. What consumers have missed out on is that in the face of declining house prices, mortgage problems and slowing employment growth, vehicle prices are dropping south of the border too. Why can’t Canadians have the choice to purchase a vehicle south of the border and bring it into Canada? This is not about protecting auto-workers – in fact, lower prices will likely have the positive impact of creating more demand for vehicles in Canada. Lower prices for vehicles in the States have in many cases prompted Canadians to purchase a car in the US that they might not have necessarily done otherwise.
Transport Canada – we don’t need unique regulations in Canada to stop us from saving a lot of money and limiting our choice.
November 29th, 2007 at 9:14 am
“Rip off Britain” went through all of this several years ago when thousands of people started importing UK spec cars from continental Europe, thereby saving themselves thousands of dollars. Yes, second-hand values dropped, but everybody got over that with time. Now, the entire UK auto industry has re-aligned its prices and life continues as normal. Some manufacturers (VW were the primary culprit) tried to protect their UK market by instructing all continental dealers not to accept orders for UK spec cars. In the end, VW were prosecuted by the European Union and they lost (big time). I hope we see the same thing in Canada as there’s no doubt at all in my mind that the manufacturers are essentially using CMVSS 114 as a very convenient mechanism for protecting their domestic markets at the expense of good Canadian citizens. It’s all very sickening in these modern times of open borders and free trade.