Nissan May Stop Making Cars In New Zealand By June Over Tax Issue
Dow Jones Online News, Friday, May 15, 1998 at 02:22
(Published on Thursday, May 14, 1998 at 23:17)
WELLINGTON -(Dow Jones)- Nissan Motor Co. will halt auto production
in New Zealand earlier than previously projected following the New
Zealand government's decision to end all tariffs on imported cars,
Nissan Ltd. spokesman John Manley said Friday.
Manley, however, told Dow Jones Newswires no final date had been set
for when the last car will come off the assembly line.
Local media reports earlier reported Nissan would bring forward its
previous decision to halt local auto production to June, instead of in
October as had been previously announced. Manley said while no date had
in fact been set, at this stage it would likely be early July at the
latest.
Late last year, the New Zealand government had said it intended to
introduce a tariff-rate reduction time-table for import taxes from 22.5%
to 20.0% on July 1, 1998, to 17.5% on July 1, 1999, to 15% on July 1,
2000, and then nothing on Dec. 1, 2000. These tariffs, however, were
abruptly eliminated Thursday.
New Zealand's decision to scrap tax on auto imports makes local
assembly unprofitable. Both Mitsubishi Motors Corp. and Honda Motor Co.
have already announced plans to shut down factories in the country.
Nissan (NSANY), the second-largest auto maker in Japan after Toyota
Motor Corp., has been assembling Primeras, Cefiros, Pulsar and other
models at its North Island plant, which employs about 440 and turns out
some 6,000 cars a year. Local output will be replaced by imports from
Japan.
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