Toyota is gunning for the Luxury Car Tax. Or that’s the way it seems all of a sudden. Indeed, the car brand that sells more cars that incur the tax than any other Down Under has, out of the blue, firmly restated its position for the abolition of the LCT.
The company issued a release last week stating the tax “was discriminatory because it only applied to vehicles and no other luxury item”.
“Toyota Australia and the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries have long opposed the Luxury Car Tax on the basis that no other consumer product has an additional tax applied simply because the value of the product exceeds an arbitrary [price] threshold.
“Toyota's recommendation to abolish the Luxury Car Tax is consistent with the 2010 Henry Tax Review,” the released stated.
It was a statement that caught much of the auto industry on the hop – even those among Toyota’s own resource network.
We put the Toyota Australia senior executive director sales and marketing David Buttner (pictured) on the spot over his sudden interest in LCT at this week’s Australian International Motor Show preview. In particular, the pointedness of Toyota’s opening salvo.
“I don’t think we came out swinging,” Buttner told the Carsales Network, with a straight face.
“We simply stated our case, which is a case that’s been stated by the FCAI for some time – that we believe it [LCT] is an unfair tax.
“We’re always reviewing [government] policy... We’re always in dialog with government -- there is a lot of dialog over a host of issues happening with government at the moment. [The LCT discussion] is not new, the FCAI have been discussing this at length with the government and we thought it was a good time to come out and state our case,” Buttner deflected.
So what is that case? And where would Buttner have the pollies replace the estimated $500m the LCT raises each year.
“I'm not going to recommend where the government move it [the tax gathered] to but we’re very keen to see [LCT] abolished. And at the end of the day, if it can’t be abolished, we’d like to see the threshold lifted,” he stated.
“If you add in accessories to a vehicle the [current circa $57K] cut-off point becomes quite low… So if we got closer to $75,000 or $80,000 and we allow for emission-efficient vehicles, it would be a much better place than where we are today.”
Buttner say he is not interested in the LCT being replaced by an emission-based tax regime. Such a tax was proposed by Mercedes-Benz ahead of the increase in LCT that took effect in 2008.
And he says that there is no particular significance to the timing of this latest anti-LCT tilt.
That it arrived without the normal preemptive ‘dance’ that goes on with this sort of ‘lobbying’ is telling, however. While much discussion has been advanced in the last few weeks regarding the affect of a carbon tax on the auto industry, essentially LCT has been off the radar...
It’s not such a big jump to suggest that the carmakers (or at least Toyota) are using this new focus on LCT as a lever to ensure they get a fair(er) deal at the carbon bargaining table.
“It’s important industry has a voice whether that be through the FCAI or individuals. We always have that sort of dialog – it’s ongoing”, Buttner stated… Before answering, with the customary smile: “No, I’m not frustrated with lack of progress.”
Read the latest Carsales Network news and reviews on your mobile, iPhone or PDA at carsales' mobile site...