Rumours of Clean Car Discount closure appear false

Rumours circulating that the Clean Car Discount will end early due to the fund it draws from being empty appear to have no grounding.

AutoTalk began hearing of the rumour—that the fund was insolvent and would close within two weeks—on Thursday, with those we spoke to hearing it particularly from fleet and rental customers.

Our investigations indicate that there is no truth to the rumours, with Waka Kotahi—who administers the programme—certain that the fund is in good standing.

Spokesperson Andy Knackstedt says he can confirm there is money in the fund, and it is not insolvent, though he won’t release how much is in the pot until a scheduled data release next week.

“We can categorically say the fund is not insolvent,” Knackstedt says. “We’ll be publishing the updated data for October next week.”

Another source within the government we spoke to says the early closure would be highly unlikely, and technically the government ‘can’t run out of money’—particularly in this case, where funds are attached to the much larger Climate Emergency Response Fund.

The report to the end of September showed $115.7 million in the fund. In the September period, $57.2 million had been paid out, against $52.6 million collected, meaning the fund only dropped $4.6 million for that month.

While the gap in expenditure is likely to widen, with ute sales slowing in part due to National’s commitment to kill the scheme on 31 December, thousands of fee-paying cars were still sold in October.

Motor Industry Association chief executive Aimee Wiley had heard the rumours too but says that short of some kind of administrative bungle, there should be plenty of money left in the system.

“Our modelling suggests there is more than enough money to get through to the end of the year, and that there is likely more than $90 million left at the moment.”

Politically, Labour is unlikely to have played with their own scheme—especially as they are in caretaker mode—while the potential National government, particularly transport spokesperson Simeon Brown, has yet to take any control.

AutoTalk contacted Brown, who says he was aware of the rumours but did not have any details.

VIA chief executive Greig Epps says he has not heard of any issues with the fund.

“I understand that thought was being given as to how to wind it down per National Party plans. Can a government fund be ‘insolvent’?”