Vehicle spending stays steady

The amount spent on motor vehicles in the June quarter was only $500,000, or 0.1 per cent, higher than the total splashed out in the first three months of the year, according to new figures from Stats NZ.

The latest retail card spending data shows consumers forked out a seasonally adjusted $611 million for cars over April, May and June this year. This was 1.3 per cent lower than the $619m spent in the same period a year ago.

For June alone, the total spend using electronic cards of $2.04m was also 1.6 per cent lower than the $207m recorded in May 2022.

However, it did continue a steady run for the industry with the monthly spend in the automotive sector ranging from only $201m to $209m over the past eight months. 

Spending on fuel was the only retail sector that had an increase between May and June this year, climbing $18m, or 2.9 per cent, to $642m last month.

On a quarterly basis, the amount consumers paid out for fuel with their cards was up 3.5 per cent from $1.669 billion in the March quarter to $1.728b in the following three months.

Ricky Ho, business performance manager at Stats NZ, says: “This increase is likely influenced by higher fuel prices at the pump. Fuel spending accounted for the slight increase in retail card spending in June.”

For all retail industries, seasonally adjusted card spending rose 0.1 per cent to $6.382b in June when compared with May’s figures.

The total spend increased in the June quarter by $648m, or 3.8 per cent, to $17.844b when compared with the March quarter’s $17.196b.

“Retail card spending increased across all retail industries in the June quarter,” Ho notes. “People were spending more on a range of items such as clothing, food and liquor, and fuel.”

Actual retail spending using electronic cards was $18b in the June quarter, up $278m and 1.5 per cent from the same quarter in 2021.