Auto & Transportation

The United States has strong demand for new cars, but due to the shortage of microchips, many automakers are forced to idle assembly plants, resulting in a significant reduction in new car inventories.

According to data from Cox Automotive's vAuto, the total supply of new vehicles in the United States was 1.95 million in mid-May, a decrease from 2.24 million at the end of April, and a 42% decrease from May 2020, or 1.4 million vehicles. When the US auto industry entered June, inventory turnover days were 23 days, a record low, which was lower than 33 days at the beginning of May and 61 days at the beginning of June 2020.

Analysts pointed out that the inventory shortages of automakers are uneven, and the performance of Asian and European automakers is generally better than that of the Detroit Big Three.

Bob Carter, executive vice president of sales for Toyota Motor North America, revealed that at the beginning of June, the inventory turnover days for the Toyota brand were 8 days, and the inventory turnover days for the Lexus brand were 12 days. The difference is that the Toyota brand still has output and new stocks are still coming in every day.

Some Honda dealers in the United States revealed that they are selling key models faster than the factory's production speed, and some models such as Ridgeline pickup trucks are currently out of stock.

A Hyundai spokesperson revealed that from early May to early June, the company's inventory of cars and light trucks at US dealerships fell by 26% to approximately 91,249 units.

J.D. Power said that the average number of days a car stayed at a dealership before being sold in the United States last month was 47 days, down from 95 days in May 2020. Thomas King, president of J.D. Power Data Analysis Group, said that low inventory has not yet had a substantial impact on overall sales performance. Although inventory is still the main threat to the US auto industry to maintain the current sales speed in the coming months, retailers, manufacturers and suppliers have been able to adapt to this situation this year to maintain sales. However, King also added, "As the sales rate still exceeds the car production rate, the risk of the auto industry maintaining the current sales rate will continue to rise in the next few months."