Promoting the New Act | Review of the Operation of the Motor Vehicle Sales Act 2003: Report Presented to the House of Representatives Pursuant to Section 163 of the Motor Vehicle Sales Act 2003

Review of the Operation of the Motor Vehicle Sales Act 2003

Review of the Operation of the Motor Vehicle Sales Act 2003: Report Presented to the House of Representatives Pursuant to Section 163 of the Motor Vehicle Sales Act 2003

Promoting the New Act

Education and Information Campaign 2003-2004

18. With the commencement of the MVSA, there was a public education and information campaign delivered between November 2003 and May 2004. The campaign contract was initially funded at $375,000. The objective of the information campaign was to ensure that consumers, business and relevant community agencies received information, or knew where to find information about the law changes regarding sales of motor vehicles. Additional funding was made available post-commencement of the campaign as contingency funds were utilised.

Information for Consumers

Published Resources - Print and Electronic

19. Two consumer resources were developed. The resources were Fit for the Road, an information booklet on buying a vehicle, and Back on the Right Road, an information booklet on what to do if the transaction or vehicle was defective. The booklets were initially distributed to Citizens Advice Bureaux, Budget Advice Services (BAS), Motor Vehicle Disputes Tribunal (Back on the Right Road), the Ministry of Consumer Affairs regional offices, New Zealand Immigration Service and the Māori Women's Welfare League. Community law centres are also now holding stocks of both titles. Electronic versions of these publications are also available on the Ministry of Consumer Affairs website.

Advertising

20. An advertising programme was delivered between December 2003 and May 2004. It involved a mixture of print, radio and direct to consumer advertising through targeted household mailing, and was focussed on three key messages resulting from the change in motor vehicle sales legislation:

21. Advertising campaigns were carried out during December 2003, February 2004 and April/May 2004. All advertising directed consumers to where they could obtain either a copy of the Fit for the Road or Back on the Right Road publications and to visit the Ministry of Consumer Affairs website for more information.

22. Printed advertisements were placed in motoring sections of metropolitan and provincial newspapers. Advertisements targeting the wider population were also placed in community newspapers adjacent to or within motoring information and advertising. These publications are delivered free to households, and were considered more likely to be accessible to low-income households. A full colour version of the advertisement was placed in the Road Code for a 12 month period with a view to reaching new drivers, particularly youth and new migrants. Print advertisements were also placed in Auto Trader and Trade and Exchange magazines to target those consumers wishing to buy or sell vehicles. Advertising was placed in two major Auckland Chinese language newspapers to reach new migrants.

23. Radio advertisements were run at peak and off-peak times on mainstream network radio, youth oriented radio networks, iwi networks, Pacific Island stations such as Niu FM and PI 531, and Korean and Chinese language community stations. There were three versions of the advertising for the December, February and April runs. The April version focused on the MVDT message.

24. A multi-language flyer, Check before You Drive, containing the three key messages was delivered to 300,000 households in low income areas throughout New Zealand during February. Languages featured were English, Māori, Samoan, Arabic, Tongan, Niuean, Korean and Chinese.

Information for Business

Published Resources - Print and Electronic

25. Ministry of Consumer Affairs developed an MVSA Business Note resource which was mailed directly to some 2,100 traders, identified as licensed dealers, car fair operators and vehicle auctioneers.

26. A traders' motor vehicle section was added to the Ministry of Consumer Affairs Business Information webpage. Frequently Asked Questions on the SIN were also developed and an example SIN in PDF was also made available. A graphic file of the SIN example was made available to traders wishing to use a designer to develop a branded SIN form. The Motor Trade Association, Independent Motor Vehicle Dealers Association, trader software management companies, and individual traders took up this free offer.

Advertising

27. Printed advertisements were placed in industry magazines - two each in Radiator (the Motor Trade Association publication for its members) and in Autofile (an industry information publication).

Trader Seminars

28. A motor vehicle trader seminar series was developed to provide key information about the changes in the legislation to industry participants. The seminar series was delivered throughout New Zealand from early November to early December 2003 by officials representing the Motor Vehicle Trader Registrar, the Commerce Commission and the Ministry of Consumer Affairs. Over 2,000 traders attended these sessions.

Effectiveness of the Campaign

Consumer Awareness

29. Prior to the introduction of the MVSA in December 2003, AC Nielsen were commissioned to carry out an omnibus telephone survey to test awareness of the impending law changes. This benchmark survey targeted licensed drivers only and indicated that as few as 18 percent of respondents were aware that the law relating to the way vehicles are sold was about to be changed. Unprompted awareness was very low about the nature of the changes - for example, only 3 percent of respondents were aware traders would have to be registered. On prompting, roughly one in four people were aware about registration, although they may have been confusing this with the obligation to be licensed under the then current Motor Vehicle Dealers Act.

30. AC Nielsen conducted a further omnibus telephone survey in March 2004 following the first two flights of advertising. Forty-seven percent of respondents were aware of motor vehicle law changes (up from 18 percent). In unprompted responses there was only a small rise in consumer awareness of the nature of the law changes - from 3 percent to 6 percent awareness of trader registration and from 1 percent to 6 percent regarding the need to display a window notice. Prompted responses, however, saw a significant change from the benchmark survey - from 27 percent to 80 percent awareness of motor vehicle registration and from 14 percent to 41 percent regarding the window notice display.

31. Interestingly, respondents recalled television advertising. Although the Ministry of Consumer Affairs campaign did not use television, an advertising campaign was run by Autosure during November/December 2003, and this may have raised general awareness about the law changes. Only 15 percent of respondents recalled newspaper advertising.

Response to Published Resources

Printed Resources

32. Orders for printed copy of the consumer motor vehicle titles have come mainly from Citizens Advice Bureaux, Budget Advisory Services and Community Law Centres. At 30 June 2004, Ministry of Consumer Affairs had supplied over 3,000 motor vehicle titles to community agencies and consumers. In addition to this the New Zealand Immigration Service (NZIS) had received 3,500 copies to be included within new migrants' information packs. The MVDT also includes the consumer booklet, Back on the Right Road in its information package sent out to consumers following requests over its 0800 information line.

33. By March 2004, a further 260 Business Note guides had been ordered directly by traders. This lower figure was expected given the earlier direct mail-out of the trader publication. Electronic versions are also available on the Ministry of Consumer Affairs website and this may account for a lower amount of paper copies being ordered. Industry associations have continued to make steady orders for their own training purposes.

Website Data

34. In the six months to 30 June 2004 (following two flights of public awareness advertising), the Consumer Information "Motor Vehicles" section of the Ministry of Consumer Affairs website had recorded 3,190 visits. Between October and December 2003, prior to the changes coming into force, the website had had 908 visits.

35. The Business Information on Motor Vehicles also received a considerable number of visits and ranked 11th in the list of site entry points. The Supplier Information Notice (SIN), which is available in PDF form on the Ministry of Consumer Affairs website, is the site's most downloaded file. Between 1 January and 30 June 2004 there were 8,137 downloads of the form listed from this site.

Other Public Relations Activities

36. Other public relations activities included the Ministerial launch of the MVSA on 16 December 2003 at an Auckland car fair (organised in conjunction with the Motor Trade Association), delivery of a package of resources to all Members of Parliament, media releases to Pacific Island and Māori media, Ministry of Consumer Affairs officials participation on radio spots, the publication of various media releases and a series of articles through the Ministry's A Word of Advice (a news bulletin published fortnightly), and the electronic newsletter MVTR Matters.