The proposed Luxury Car Tax increase is not impacting on top-end vehicle sales in Cairns.

Dealers say there has been a mixed reaction to the proposed tax. They say buyers are either not concerned, are trying to finalise their purchases before July 1 or believe the tax will not get through the Senate.

The tax hike, from 25 per cent to 33 per cent, will be implemented on cars over $57,000 and can range from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands of dollars.

Honeycombes Prestige dealer-principal Scott Carse, who sells Audi, Porsche and Citroen, said the proposal had “a long way to go” and had to get through the Senate. He said many believed it would not get passed although some buyers were fast tracking their sales before July 1.

Mr Carse said he was trying to finalise the sale of a $390,000 Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet before a $19,000 tax was added to put the vehicle into the $400,000-plus bracket. He said he was fortunate to be able deliver a $296,000 Audi R8 supercar earlier this month, well before July 1, after it was ordered in February last year.

But the buyer of a special order $307,000 Audi RS6 Avant, due to arrive in November, was not worried about the tax, Mr Carse said.

Westco BMW sales manager Bob Still said he was trying to get several BMWs invoiced before July 1. He said the LCT had “slowed sales down a bit”.

But, he had a $180,000 BMW M3 sitting on the showroom floor awaiting its new owner, one had already been picked up, there had been an order for a $140,000-plus BMW X6 which was not due until later this year and the company had delivered two-thirds of 20 $102,800 X5sds twin-turbo diesels ordered. Other recent sales included a $124,500 BMW 335i convertible, a $74,200 BMW 135i Coupe and two $115,000 BMW 530d sedans.

Trinity Auto Group (city) general manager Richard Jaska said luxury cars were “flying out the door”. “We’re doing well with top end Volvos, Hondas, Range Rovers and Peugeots,” he said.

Mr Jaska said the tax rise did not seem to concern customers.

In recent weeks they had sold four $90,000-$140,000 Range Rover Sports, a couple of $90,000 Volvo SC90 V8s, an $80,000 turbodiesel XC90 and a $72,000 XC70 D5.

Ireland motor group joint managing director Richard Ireland said they were trying to arrange delivery of some vehicles affected by LCT before July 1. He said the tax increase was not only hitting people buying expensive vehicles but families and businesses too.

Mr Ireland said the rise was levied against some people movers and long wheelbase vehicles such as Holden Statesman and Caprice. “People have to buy these sorts of vehicles to transport the kids and buy them for work such as limousines and tour vehicles,” he said.

Mr Ireland said the tax was also putting off people who worked hard and aspired to owning a nice car. “We have already lost the Ford Fairlane and LTD. Does the Government also want to lose another Australian-made car?” he said. “This will put pressure on Statesman and Caprice, too.”

Pacific Toyota-Lexus of Cairns new vehicles sales manager David Gardiner said the tax announcement had sparked some sales before the end of the financial year.

He said, like the stamp duty increase in December, there had been an increase in sales.

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