Shadow Minister for Trade and Tourism, the Hon Kevin Hogan MP has said that it is disappointing, but not unexpected, to hear concerns with the Labor government's family car and ute tax will be raised by the Thai Prime Minister at the ASEAN conference in Melbourne this week.

“Analysis from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries suggests Australian manufacturers are facing $639 million in penalties for vehicles produced in Thailand under Labor's family car and ute tax,” Mr Hogan said.

“Australia’s most popular vehicles including the Toyota Hilux, the Ford Ranger and Isuzu utes are in the Labor government's crosshairs as they look to add thousands of dollars to their cost through a family car and ute tax,” Mr Hogan said.

“Most of Australia’s dual cab utes including the bestselling Ford Ranger, are imported from Thailand which sent 264,253 vehicles to our shores in 2023.”

“Thailand is Australia's 3rd largest trading partner among Southeast Asian countries and 10th largest overall.”

“Labor’s policy will not only hit families who rely on SUVs to get their kids to school, and tradies who rely on utes to do their job. It will also hit the export market of our third largest Southeast Asian trading partner with passenger vehicles considered a key export to Australia and worth over $2 billion annually.”

“Labor's family car and ute tax will add thousands of dollars to the cars that Australians love to drive and threaten the livelihoods of small business owners across the country. This is not good for Australian consumers or businesses, and it is not good for our bilateral relations with Thailand.”

“If this new tax goes ahead on its current planned trajectory, some manufacturers are likely to withdraw from the Australian market. With more than 21 per cent of Australian new vehicle sales manufactured in Thailand, the Thai Government will be rightly concerned about the consequences of Labor's family car and ute tax.”