Australian fleets can look forward to lower prices of European company cars, after Australia and the European Union negotiated a free trade agreement.<\/p>\n
The arrangement will remove the 5% tariff<\/a> currently levied on car, truck and motor vehicle parts exported from the EU. The European Commission forecasts that the deal will lead to a 52% increase in EU vehicle exports over the next decade.<\/p>\n Furthermore, Australia<\/a> is increasing the price threshold at which it applies 33% luxury car tax on imported cars to AUD 120,000 (\u20ac73,500) for electric cars. This will exempt about 75% of EVs from luxury car tax.<\/p>\n Tariffs on EU exports of trucks will be gradually removed.<\/p>\n Mega deal <\/p>\n Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, described the free trade agreement as a \u2018mega-deal,\u2019 and said, \u201cEurope is Australia’s third-largest trading partner and second-largest foreign investor. [And] beyond the quantity of our exchanges, it is the quality that matters. Our standards are aligned like no others.\u201d<\/p>\n For Australia, 98% of the current value of its exports to the EU will now be duty free, with wine and agriculture set to be big winners.<\/p>\n Australia vehicle market <\/p>\n Asian and American manufacturers dominate vehicle sales in Australia, where pickups (utes) and SUVs lead the sales charts. Toyota is the number one importer, followed by Ford, and Mazda, with Chinese brands growing in strength.<\/p>\n 2025 Top 10 brands and sales in Australia \tToyota \u2013 239,863 \tFord \u2013 94,399 \tMazda \u2013 91,923 \tKia \u2013 82,105 \tHyundai \u2013 77,208 \tMitsubishi \u2013 61,198 \tGWM \u2013 52,809 \tBYD \u2013 52,415 \tIsuzu Ute \u2013 42,297 \tMG \u2013 41,298 <\/p>\n Source: RACV<\/a><\/p>\n The Ford Ranger was the best selling vehicle last year, followed by the Toyota RAV4 and Toyota Hilux. The best-selling EU-made car was the Volkswagen Amarok, which registered at 59th in last year\u2019s new vehicle sales chart. Audi, BMW, Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz also had models among the top 100 best selling vehicles<\/a>.<\/p>\n