Personal car import push sparks safety concerns

The car industry is resisting a Coalition push to allow consumers to personally import vehicles from overseas amid fears the market will be swamped with cheap and unsafe cars.

The Abbott government is pursuing changes to the Motor Vehicle Standards Act as part of a broader agenda to cut red tape and allow consumers greater purchasing choice.

But the automotive industry has warned that jobs in the car dealership network would be threatened by the move, and that consumers would carry risks associated with importation.

Industry groups said safety issues could arise from deregulated imports, including cars unsuitable for Australian conditions exploding in the heat, sparking bushfires, or interfering with the mobile phone network.

Assistant Infrastructure Minister Jamie Briggs met industry groups at Parliament House yesterday to define which vehicles would be allowed if changes to the act were implemented.

Vehicles being considered for personal imports would need to come from right-hand-drive markets, be purchased from authorised dealers in a "trusted vehicle source market" and have driven a maximum of 4000km on delivery.

Yesterday, Mr Briggs said he was not convinced that concerns raised by industry would make personal imports unfeasible.

"I understand that people have got concerns...but there is nothing I have seen that makes it impossible to go down this path," Mr Briggs said.

"The fearmongering is to try and make it seem impossible, and I don't think it is." The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries has argued there is "no compelling public policy case" for reducing the barriers to personal importation of new vehicles.

FCAI chief executive Tony Webber said yesterday's meeting had done little to convince him that industry's concerns could be adequately addressed.

"The problem for the individual is the risk profile," he said. "It is so difficult for the individual to know what they are buying, and when they are buying a product they are transferring all that risk on to themselves, and they can't be reasonably expected to understand that risk."

Mr Briggs said some of the concerns raised by industry seemed to be "over the top".