MTA faces up to challenges

A busy 2018 has brought record highs in new and used vehicle sales but plenty of challenges too, the Motor Trade Association says in its latest annual report.

Leaps in new technology and the growing EV industry are among them.

MTA president Dave Harris in his report talks about training to service vehicles with electric or hybrid power trains, the growth in the EV charging network and more. He expects hydrogen vehicles will debut too.

Harris says the world is also consolidating with big companies getting bigger, insurance firms merging and investing in collision repairers, and increasing costs for general repairers who need to train and buy tools and data bases to diagnose modern electronics-based vehicle systems.

A busy year with a few “big wins” is also reported by MTA chief executive Craig Pomare, despite a few “pain points” such as the brown marmorated stink bug pest stopping used car shipments from Japan in February and leaving some dealers temporarily short stocked.

He also points to the compulsory recall of Takata Alpha airbags causing a great deal of difficulty for the industry, although this process has settled with some MTA input.

Growing wage pressures and other increasing costs of doing business are shaping a challenging year ahead, Pomare says.

Meanwhile, the MTA is helping repairers outside the dealership networks to keep up with technology change by providing analysis and information, coordinating and promoting training, and providing input and advice on how to better share technical repair information.

“MTA is also helping members get to grips with the new technology used in electric vehicles. We work with automotive training providers to offer courses that include battery, inverter and motor/generator technology, repair and diagnostics. Other courses look at the software that monitors and maintains battery state of health. The safe handling of the high voltage connections and parts is another popular topic.”

The annual report also features Blue Cars and its work on EV batteries.

Visit mta.org.nz

for more information.