Good news for Australian car buyers: How US tariffs and global 'disruption' could mean better prices and supply according to Volkswagen as it eyes stiff competition with BYD, MG and LDV

Volkswagen global executives believe a combination of US tariffs, vehicle efficiency laws, and Chinese competition will mean good things for Australian new-car buyers.

Despite tight volumes, which have declined marginally year-on-year, VW's commercial vehicle division remained committed to offering a wide range of its products, from the Amarok ute to the Caddy small van in Australia.

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles CEO, Professor Dr. Carsten Intra said Australia would become a more heated battleground with the USA’s incoming global tariffs. He added any brand would be foolish not to play in Australia, given the knowledge they could gain for other competitive global markets.

“Look what has been in the media about this in the last few days. Audi said yesterday that they will not deliver cars to the US, but it’s not just Audi that is not delivering. There’s also a lot of Chinese companies not delivering to the US.” Dr Intra told CarsGuide at the launch of its refreshed commercial vehicle range.

“It’s my expectation that to the open countries there will be an over-delivery [of new products]

“So there will be much more fight around these countries, and this will most probably happen in Australia.

“There are over 90 brands coming here. It’s a very scattered market - it’s a good market to learn about competition for us. It’s a strategic market because of that.

“Otherwise, I think Australia is a bit apart from that [tariffs] and so that is good for Australia.

“It’s a bit of a melting pot of all the different companies delivering here, which is not the case in China, it’s not the case in Europe, and it’s not the case in the US.

“But it is the case in South Africa and Australia.”

Dr Intra agreed that this will likely mean more choice and preferable pricing for Australia going forward.

When queried on the impact Australia’s new vehicle efficiency standards (NVES) might have on VW’s commercial range going forward, Intra said it would likely mean more electrification technologies available earlier, although it was unlikely to mean less choice when it comes to the range of models available.

“We had decided from the very beginning that we were going to provide a big range to Australia. We had already decided before [the NVES] that we want to electrify the whole range, we want hybrid on the whole range, and we want to also maintain the combustion engines as long as they are allowed.

"With that full range, we are prepared for Australia, completely.

“What we’re interested in now is what speed Australia will go, because right now there are different speeds in the world, this is the disruption we’re talking about, all the different legislations.

“So, we’re looking curiously into the elections coming up and what the rules will be thereafter.”

NVES introduced by the Labor government has divided the local car industry. Many manufacturers, particularly European and Chinese automakers which already comply with more stringent emissions targets in their home markets have spoken in favour of the scheme, as their range of vehicles are minimally impacted.

Many popular Japanese automakers have either been re-assessing their line-ups or speaking out against the speed of the laws, which have taken Australia from 1980s emissions standards to effectively a Euro 6 equivalent overnight.

Meanwhile, the Coalition has promised to scrap the NVES if it is elected, dubbing it an “unfair tax".

Dr Intra said VW was constantly having to change course now emissions laws are rapidly changing, being watered down, delayed or even removed in different markets after years of slowly ratcheting up.

“This is all over the place. You can see in the US it is changing, you can see it in Europe where the direction is a bit changing all the time.

“So, I would love to have one direction all over the world. It was a big speed [toward zero emissions], but there was no problem to [justify] maintaining it. This is not the real world.”

Adding to Intra’s comments, VW Board Member for Sales, Marketing, and Aftersales, Lars Krause, said: “This is good news for Australia. We are offering options for all these different scenarios. We’re offering BEVs, hybrids and ICE engines

“The pain goes there - we’ve already invested in all the different solutions, so we now have a very wide production range - we can offer everything [in Australia] and maintain it.”