Review of the Operation of the Motor Vehicle Sales Act 2003: Report Presented to the House of Representatives Pursuant to Section 163 of the Motor Vehicle Sales Act 2003

March 2006

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Market Context

13. The MVSA is an important piece of consumer legislation as New Zealand has one of the highest rates of car ownership in the world. In June 2004 the total fleet size for New Zealand vehicles was 3,668,577. Car ownership is highest in Auckland at 33 percent of total licensed cars in the country. The second highest is Christchurch and Wellington third at 9 percent.

14. In 2004, New Zealand Customs reported 236,096 imported motor vehicles to New Zealand: 67 percent were used cars and 33 percent new. There were 815,252 cars sold and 38.35 percent of these were purchased from a motor vehicle trader.

15. In the first 11 months of 2005 there were 151,512 used cars imported and 77,375 new cars.

16. Statistics New Zealand reports that in 2003/2004 weekly household expenditure on motor vehicles was $49.20 compared to $37.40 in 2000/2001. The $49.20 includes $44.40 for the purchase of motor vehicles and $4.80 on credit costs, which relate to the purchase of the vehicle.[1]

17. In 2004, there were 228,787 first time car registrations on the Motor Vehicle Register. For the first half of 2005 there were 114,908 registrations, a drop of 0.2 percent on the same period in 2004.

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