An indication advertises to buy automobiles at a used automotive dealership in Arlington, Virginia, February 15, 2022.
Saul Loeb | AFP | Getty Photographs
DETROIT – If buyers are on the lookout for indicators of a recession or weakening shopper spending, they will skip over new car costs, which hit a brand new file in June.
Fueled by pent-up shopper demand, low car inventories and rising gross sales of luxurious autos, Cox Automotive reported this week the common transaction worth of a brand new car final month was $48,083 – a 1.9% enhance from Might and better than the earlier file of $47,202 set in December.
The common sale worth was a part of a broader enhance in shopper spending in June, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The buyer worth index, a measure of on a regular basis items and companies, soared 9.1% from a 12 months in the past, above the 8.8% Dow Jones estimate.
A lot of the inflation rise got here from gasoline costs, which elevated 11.2% on the month and simply shy of 60% for the 12-month interval. New and used car costs posted respective month-to-month good points of 0.7% and 1.6%, based on the BLS.
Cox stated June continued this 12 months’s streak of shoppers paying greater than the producer’s recommended retail worth, or “sticker worth,” for a brand new car, based on Cox. The automotive analysis agency reported new autos from Honda Motor, Kia and Mercedes-Benz transacted on common between 6.5% and eight.7% over MSRP.
–Jeff Cox contributed to this report.