Reversing the flow of grey imports
Americans are beginning to buy cars in Australia – but not the Holdens and Falcons you might expectAmerican speculators and enthusiasts are rumoured to be picking up old cars in Australia for sale back in the States, and with the Aussie dollar now 30 cents US below its peak of US $1.10 just a few years ago, they stand to make a killing.
And it's not hurting the local vendors either; such is the swings-and-roundabouts nature of foreign currency exchange rates.
What's curious about all this is that the cars the American buyers are investigating in Australia are American cars.
It sounds like an urban myth, but it's the truth, says Kristian Appelt, director of Auto Services Group in Adelaide. Appelt, who is in the news currently for his views on amendments to the Motor Vehicle Standards Act, told motoring.com.au that the time to buy an American car is now behind us.
A restored classic muscle car from the 1960s costing US $25,000 back in 2009 might still be selling for that amount in 2015, but for Aussie buyers, the effective price has risen from around AUD $23,000 to $31,698, based on the current rate of one Aussie dollar trading for 79 cents American.
In other words, six years on from the GFC, that US $25,000 classic is now costing you an extra $9000 or thereabouts to bring into the country.
But, says Appelt, the time for Americans to buy an American car from an Australian is right now.
"I think we're actually going to be sending them back the other way," he told motoring.com.au. "I've already had a bloke from the US contact me saying that he's looking for Camaros again.
"We brought so many in, so many Camaros and Mustangs ... that they're now sort of sniffing around. They're a bit light-on in the US, so they're going: 'Well, you know, let's have a look now that [Australia is] 75 cents to the dollar. Maybe it's worth actually looking and sending them back the other way'."
Many American cars imported in recent years have remained left-hand drive, and since we don't salt our roads, the cars have remained generally in very good condition. Some of them are restored and/or upgraded to applicable ADRs, so they could make good buying – even with the cost of shipping back to the US.
Pictures courtesy of Allen Watkin and Ben Hosking (Wikimedia Commons)
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