BMWs for the Cabinet
The nice Government is very concerned about the environment and as part of this sincere belief, have decided to sacrifice their Ford Fairlaines for a more environmentally friendly car.
Yes the poor wee souls are going to downgrade their Ministerial cars from Ford Fairlaines to BMW 730Lds.
How will they cope. The sacrifices they are willing to make for the sake of the Environment.
So 34 BMWs are on the way. And how much do they cost? Well the Government will get a bulk discount but the shelf price in the UK (they are not sold in NZ) is NZ$146,400. And a Ford Fairlaine 4.0 litre is $72,000.
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December 18th, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Some animals are just more equal than others.
December 18th, 2007 at 2:41 pm
Top speed is 20% higher than a fairlane so it will be easier to get to the rugby on time.
December 18th, 2007 at 2:42 pm
some just equal other animals
December 18th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
some are equal, the others are animals
December 18th, 2007 at 2:52 pm
I thought there was a moratorium on fossil fuel power stations for the next 10 years?
December 18th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
“Thirteen of the new cars are due to be in operation by June next year, with the remainder phased in as part of the scheduled replacements over the next three years.”
Pity the Labour cabinet won’t be able to ride around in them for too long.
Although it will help them later in positioning National as ‘rich pricks’ since people will forget when they were ordered.
December 18th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
I thought the press reports some time back mentiones that the govt. was looking at a Chrysler and a Skoda and something else quite reasonably priced.
Snouts in the trough. No “train to Pyongyang” stuff for OUR Marxist leaders.
December 18th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
Nice car. See http://images.google.co.nz/images?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GFRC,GFRC:2006-52,GFRC:en&q=BMW+730Ld&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi
December 18th, 2007 at 2:55 pm
I can see why union flunkeys like to become Liar MPs they get a much better company car. Better than many rich pricks in fact.
December 18th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
I still think the PM should get around on a GSXR-1100. No drama getting to the rugby on time and uses a lot less fule, costs less etc etc.
December 18th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
This has got to be a joke. DPF, please, tell us, is this a joke?
December 18th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
Decadence before the fall. Although I imagine responsibility for the actual decision will be pushed off on some civil servant.
December 18th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
Nice car alright george. I could not see if a rear seat speedo was an optional extra.
December 18th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
Surely, given our world leadership on environmental matters per Parker the Bali Poser, that the cars should be hybrids if not solely electric.
What is the response of the Greens to this?
National should state these will be disposed of and more appropriate transportation used.
December 18th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
Josh Says:
“Decadence before the fall. Although I imagine responsibility for the actual decision will be pushed off on some civil servant.”
Any bets on Hugh Logan?
December 18th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
ha ha Burt. And Fitzsimons on horse and cart.
Apparently in the late 1800s, at the then rate of growth of horse and cart transport the entire surface of the planet would be covered in 6′ of horse shit within 50 years. Ha ha – it’s all doom and gloom!
December 18th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
If Rodneys rollerskate is a smart car then these must be the stupid cars.
December 18th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
Greens are happy with the cars now the big bore exhaust has been replaced by an al bore version.
December 18th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
Not one will have a NZ flag attached
December 18th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
Johnboy,
Your comment reminds me, I think I read somewhere today that Al Bore’s film is to be shown in all NZ schools, but unlike in England there will be no requirement to discuss the factual inaccuracies, so only one point of view will be presented.
December 18th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
I can hear Winston laughing allready. “More baubles, more baubles for me hahahaha!”
December 18th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
I wonder if the minor reduction in emissions will be valued as more or less than the $3 million extra capital cost?
December 18th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
There is no money for tax cuts.
December 18th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
Oh this is just dying to be turned into a front page news story. I’m sure those voters in South Auckland who delivered Labour the last election will be thrilled to hear that Helen’s going to drive around in a BMW now.
Ford is stopping production of the LTD in the next few months, so the Govt had to find somewhere else to buy its cars from. But Holden still does a long wheelbase model (the Statesman), for $66,500 RRP (and a lot less for a big fleet like the Govt)
Now, I can kind of see the rationale for the BMW – namely that a 3.0 diesel is more economical and spits out less CO2 per km than the big Aussie petrol cars.
But maybe a more politically acceptable idea might be to opt for the Statesman ahead of the BMW and spend a few $$$ on “carbon mitigation” (ie, planting trees).
The workers party who’s going to deliver a carbon-neutral New Zealand has got itself quite lost on the way …
December 18th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
The sense of entitlement is strong in this one Luke.
“The Grandeur” has arrived just as the shelf life expires for the comrade ruling elite.
If Rudd ever tried to convert from Statesmen/Fairlanes to BMs….he’d not hear the end of it until he was thrown out in 3 years.
December 18th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
Disgraceful Doesnt Crazy Clark know we fought and beat the Hun in WW2. She should be buying Chrysler diesels Good fuel economy less than half the price of the BMWs and with the optional black out windows will go well with her gangsta image.
December 18th, 2007 at 3:22 pm
Factual inaccuracies have been official Liar Party policy since dear leader took over.
December 18th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Yes, the shit just continues, the pig snouts just got longer. Would not something powered by the bullshit put out by these leeches be more apporpriate. Call the fire brigade, Rome burns.
December 18th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Staff Car.
Poifect fit with Tom Scott’s cartoon today.
December 18th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
From the article:
“The BMW 730Ld was selected as best fitting all requirements and also represents excellent value for money, with a cheaper whole-of-life cost than the models it is replacing.”
“The BMW 730Ld rated 8.01 litres fuel per 100km and 212gr CO2 per km. This compares with the ratings of the current Ford Fairlanes of 10.21 litres fuel per 100km and 260gr CO2 per km.”
So they are quite a lot cheaper and cleaner. I doubt this was exactly a political decision by the Dept of Internal affairs, it would have been by the numbers.
While these cars are not percieved as anything special in Europe or the US, traditionally BMWs in NZ have been symbols of wasteful conspicuous consumption for the rich, I guess we’re still struggling with that tall poppy syndrome as witnessed here…
December 18th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
It does conjure up images of a banana republic.
Also importing cars that are not sold here will make repairs and maintenance very costly.
December 18th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
uk_kiwi, I agree that the BMW is a good sensible by-the-numbers choice. But I also think it will play poorly with the average Kiwi voter.
I really don’t know what kind of politician would think this decision would be broadly supported by Kiwis … Helen’s vaunted political nous seems to have evaporated
December 18th, 2007 at 3:35 pm
uk_kiwi tall poppies grown with other people’s fertilizer don’t count.
December 18th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
Another example of the
laughable disconnection between rhetoric and reality that was the most striking feature of the [IPCC] conference.
I was expecting bicycles (or rickshaws), for self-avowed “sustainable” advocates. Or hybrids powered by their own exhaust gases!
December 18th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
Why didnt they go the whole hog (pun intended) and buy stretched Mercedes Benz. I recall Idi Amin had a fleet of these the 6 litre Pullman with 3 doors each side model.
December 18th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
I’d be intrigued to see the numbers on “lower overall cost of ownership”.
December 18th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
These ones are quieter and more manouverable for speeding down country roads.
December 18th, 2007 at 3:41 pm
Bwaaa…
Use a 15% fleet discount…that’s $124 k vs $72 k….plus importing any non common BM part from Europe.
That’s some “whole of life cost” to make up on a vehicle that will be flicked in 3 years
Yuppie maths….count on it.
December 18th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
“Or hybrids powered by their own exhaust gases!”
The mind boggles Major can you picture Genetic getting around town in her new rickshaw with the composting toilet on a trailer behind supplying the methane to run the whole contraption. Shit oh dear!
December 18th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
Purchase cost is higher, but resale value holds up well compared to other cars. Thus the difference is lower. Or so the theory goes.
December 18th, 2007 at 3:44 pm
And while europe threatens us with food miles, our politicians clearly dont care about retaliating with car miles or spare parts miles. Not a very sustainable decision at all. They should have gone for methane powered cars and used up some of those cow farts.
December 18th, 2007 at 4:17 pm
We’re not in Europe.
I checked the map and everything.
December 18th, 2007 at 4:39 pm
Linda As one who has worked in the motor trade these things will be a dog when they get sold. There are what the trade calls an orphan model. They have the smallest engine in the range so are unloved by most 2nd hand buyers who can get a bigger engined model for not much more money. I suspect they will get at least 25% off retail maybe 30% but over 3 years will lose 65% depreciation so will be worth about $40K with around 75thou to 80thou kms on the clock.
For all that they will be very well serviced and polished and they will represent excellent value for money for those wanting such a vehicle.
December 18th, 2007 at 5:07 pm
David Parker as climate change minister has put out a release on how responsible they are in making this purchase.
Not once is the phrase ‘we are buying BMWs’ mentioned or does the word BMW appear…
December 18th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
Now, if we have this admission from the Beehive that late-technology cars are the answer to environmental crises, can they please get on with 1) giving all of us incentives to trade up and 2) building all those roads that should have been built 30 years ago.
December 18th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
BMW 730, meh. They’re taxis in Europe.
December 18th, 2007 at 7:09 pm
uk_kiwi says:
Ahem, I drove a 730iL in NZ. I got it for a good price about three years before petrol became the stuff of second mortgages. I couldn’t afford to own it now.
Trouble was, driving round Wainui and Petone, at every set of traffic lights odd people kept coming up and thrusting wads of cash through the windows and asking me what I was “holding”. Replying “the cruise control knob, actually” just seemed to make them angry
I took to playing Shostakovich very loudly with the windows down and this seemed to act as some sort of repellant.
But as Richard says, they’re nothing special in Europe. And as gd says, they’ll depreciate through the floor, so start saving now for a real bargain motor in three to five years.
December 18th, 2007 at 7:18 pm
Rex
Do the govt own these lemons or do they lease them, I refuse to believe that a govt (any govt) is dumb enough to purchase these German taxi’s.
December 18th, 2007 at 7:41 pm
Big bruv, from the Scoop story:
Yep, that dumb. Perhaps Labour will stump up the difference between the normal IRD allowance for motor vehicle depreciation and the actual depreciation on these things.
(Gets ready for a chorus of “Yeah, right”).
December 18th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
Rex
While I am no tax expert I would have thought the answer is simple, the govt buys these lemons (obviously they do not pay the tax) then they on sell them to a lease company who work out a monthly lease figure.
The govt then simply hand these pigs back after three or four years.
December 18th, 2007 at 8:10 pm
Greens’ response:
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PA0712/S00423.htm
The Government agreement to purchase 34 luxury six cylinder BMWs over the next three years contravenes their own fuel efficiency standard for diesel vehicles as laid out in the Energy Efficiency Conservation Strategy, Green Party Co-Leader Jeanette Fitzsimons says.
“The Energy Efficiency Strategy sets out a target for diesel vehicles entering the country to use only six-and-a-half litres for every 100 kilometres travelled. “These luxury cars use eight litres for every 100 kilometres travelled.
“The difference between this supposedly ‘greener’ vehicle fleet and the Government’s own standard is close to 22 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year, each year
“If the Government expects individual New Zealanders to make positive changes in their lives to cut climate change emissions, they need to start taking their own responsibilities more seriously.
….
“A few of these cars for state purposes might be acceptable for various occasions, but why do Ministers need such large luxury vehicles? … They are sending entirely the wrong message to the rest of New Zealand.
December 18th, 2007 at 8:28 pm
Hmm, I have not heard a peep from the Nats
MPs over these cars, why?
December 18th, 2007 at 9:16 pm
“Hmm, I have not heard a peep from the Nats MPs over these cars, why?”
They’re probably looking forward to their turn in them:)
[DPF: Hell I certainly am looking forward to hitching the occassional ride in one
]
December 18th, 2007 at 9:17 pm
How can they have a cheaper whole of life cost when noone knows what the price of carbon, nor the price of fuel will be over the cars lifespan?
December 18th, 2007 at 9:19 pm
Also I believe that Rodney Hide still drives the most environmentaly friendly car…. his little smart car
December 18th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
What a farce. Should be hybrids all round.
December 18th, 2007 at 11:02 pm
This is another diabolical example of some departmental goon at work who has decided these BMW’s are the way foward… Well I hope they have put enough money aside for servicing costs because they are in for a shock, or should I say the tax payer is.
There are so many other models of car which are cheaper to run, less expensive to service and maintain and which are generally better for the environment, even if that is just a perception they should be going Hybrid to set the example.
The thing that irritates me most is that these cars are used around Wellington as airport shuttles and to take Ministers to and from home. I was disgusted a couple of years ago when I lived in central Wellington, Philip Field had a Ministerial apartment just off the Terrace, which is in tennis ball throwing distance of the Beehive, and every day there was the Fairlane sitting in the drive to pick him up to take him ‘downhill’ to the beehive, he could have rolled down without much effort! What will it take.
December 19th, 2007 at 12:19 am
Isn’t 34 x $146,000 just shy of $5,000,000?
So they can spend our money on their cars, but we can can’t spend our money on our election?
December 19th, 2007 at 8:28 am
DPF says… I wonder if the minor reduction in emissions will be valued as more or less than the $3 million extra capital cost?
I guess you already know the answer to that one, but for the sake of argument, let’s have a wee look.
Apparently, the new vehicles output 212g Carbon/Km vs. 260g Carbon/Km. That’s around 50g Carbon/Km. What do you think, about 100,000 Km/year per vehicle on average? That give a saving of 5Tonnes/year (5,000,000 g).
What’s the going rate for a tonne of Carbon? $100? $200? How many years of these sorts of ‘savings’ will it take to save the $70K extra spent on the car?
Oh, and by the way, how much extra carbon is used/saved when producing a BMW rather than a Fairlane?
December 19th, 2007 at 9:05 am
Comrades! he cried. ‘You do not imagine, I hope, that we pigs are doing this in a spirit of selfishness and privilege? Many of us actually dislike milk and apples. I dislike them myself. Our sole object in taking these things is to preserve our health. Milk and apples (this has been proved by Science, comrades) contain substances absolutely necessary to the well-being of a pig. We pigs are brainworkers. The whole management and organisation of this farm depend on us. Day and night we are watching over your welfare. It is for your sake that we drink thatt milk and eat those apples. Do you know what would happen if we pigs failed in our duty? Jones would come back! Yes, Jones would come back! Surely, comrades,’ cries Squealer almost pleadingll, skipping from side to side and whisking his tail, ‘surely there is no one among you who wants to see Jones come back?’
Now if there was one thing that the animals were completely certain of , it was that they did not want Jones back. When it was put to them in this light, they had no more to say. The importance of keeping the pigs in good health was all too obvious. So it was agreed without further argument that the milk and the windfall apples (and also the main crop of apples when they ripened ) should be reserved for the pigs alone.
George Orwell – Animal Farm.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:36 am
perfect stayathomemum. clarity.
on another tangent – the Greens have said that the efficiency and co2 emmissions etc of these behemoths (which are actually quite small inside, unlike the oz cars) fall below the requirements this govt is about to foist onto us the stupid public.
So there we go again – one law for them and one law for us.
George Orwell, you were onto it.
December 19th, 2007 at 9:39 am
the weekly double standards of this govt are disgusting.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:05 am
I thought the most polluting part of a car was its manufacture. The Govt should have kept the Fords a few more years, kept them tuned, and slowed down 20km/h(no fast dashs to the rugby).
I can get as low as 8.4 L/100km in my 4 litre Falcon at 85-90 km/h on the open road. In old language, this is 32mpg
The new BMW’s economy and CO2 gains are at best incremental. The diesel engine still has to haul about 2 tonnes of car around, plus passengers. There are lighter, cheaper, more economical options if they are serious about presenting a green image
Shame on Helen and ther other trough feeders
December 19th, 2007 at 10:19 am
Great to see our Labour Government finally taking climate change seriously. They’re fearlessly tackling the toughest issues first here, and I commend them for making the same kind of sacrifices that they expect the average kiwi to make to prevent impending global-warming-induced doom.
December 19th, 2007 at 10:29 am
look how fast these cars drive
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3t9t9Miu6iQ
i bet Helen won’t notice it again even at 260 KM/h
the only thing left to do, is to use petrol tax actually on roading projects…
December 19th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
You do not understand the world of climate change and eco-imperialism.
As one of a group of New Zealanders who were at Bali trying to present the face of reason, I can assure you that Kyoto is a code for America Bad – Europe good.
Hence the decision rule will now be “sell American and buy European”.
The other Agricultural nations present at Bali saw the US as their defender and were well aware of how the EU turned food miles on us before the ink was properly dry.
They are demanding that Indonesians stop felling their trees to make Balinese teak furniture but offer to pay the Indonesians millions in compensation.
However, the people who work in the forests, make the furniture and sell it to tourists know very well they will not see a dollar of the compensation.
As one said to me “The Cheques will be written in Geneva and sent to the Government and the Government is a strong believer in recycling so will send it straight back to an account in Geneva.”
December 19th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
They will be nice cars and fair enough. They are only upper mid price range so get over it. What sort of worms think BMW are all that special for heavens sake.
December 20th, 2007 at 11:26 am
they r only upper mid price range? to a small country with 4 million people and GDP per capita of just over US$27k? why the hell do we need 34 of these european class-D long wheelbase luxury cars. a 10 years old BMW 3 is not that special at all, but a brand new 730 Ld is special unless you are a “rich prick” my friend
you sound like we should buy some maybach 62 s for our lovely cabinet ministers…