Recently, Americans are buying cars in near-record numbers. However, a global chip shortage has left car sellers unable to meet the demand for shoppers. Buyers may have to wait weeks or months to receive their vehicle.
Scarcity of chips means scarcity of cars
"We might be seeing the best new car market ever. But we don't even have cars to sell," said David Kelleher, a car salesman in Philadelphia. After recording the best months of sales in March and April, he started the new season with only 98 cars, when normally 700 cars must be in stock.
Automakers have been forced to cut production of more than 1.2 million vehicles in North America, according to estimates by research firm AutoForecast Solutions, because they don't have enough chips to power everything from safety systems. complete, to the brake and the engine. This has turned the cars into "useless plastic piles".
Research firm Wards Intelligence estimates that U.S. dealerships currently have less than 2 million vehicles in stock or are on track to arrive at the end of April. This number is nearly half of what it was at the time of the announcement. and is the lowest level in the past 3 decades.
Chipmakers are expected to spend billions of dollars on new production, and the White House has also prioritized increasing domestic chip production. However, the construction of domestic factories will take many years. Many executives in the auto-manufacturing sector are forecasting the shortages will affect their businesses throughout the period between now and the end of the year.
Currently, chip shortages have disrupted production at dozens of auto plants across the US, even forcing many factories to close for months.
Automakers are having to assemble vehicles without semiconductors. Therefore, they had to leave the car in place until the chip was installed. Tens of thousands of such vehicles are parked in vacant airports, quarries, racetracks and ranches near assembly plants in the South and Midwest. At the end of March, Ford had about 20,000 cars parked in areas near the factory to wait for chips.
The timing of chip shortages is made worse as buyers are about to use savings and government support to buy cars. Automakers recorded their highest-ever sales in March and April. According to research firm JD Power, increased demand has pushed the average price for a new vehicle to $37,572. in April, up nearly 7% from a year earlier and the highest in the month.
To address inventory shortages, some auto companies are removing some features that require the use of chips. Stellantis NV shipped some Ram pickups to dealers without automatic blind-spot detection, Kelleher said. He shared, 1 buyer was very upset when the $ 60,000 car lacked this feature.
Meanwhile, the scarcity situation puts more strain on the used car market, which has become hotter in recent times. Car dealers are trying to convince customers to exchange old cars for new cars to increase inventory.
According to auction site Manheim, a used pickup truck sold for 78% more in April than a comparable one a year ago.
This will be an opportunity for car owners like Zerin Dube. Recently, he considered replacing his Jeep Wrangler. He found used car retailers Carvana and Vroom were willing to pay a little more than the $50,000 he paid three years ago. However, the problem is finding a new car.
EEI Global Inc., a marketing company that offers test-drives of new vehicles at events such as races and level fairs, asked an automaker to cancel a $1 million contract this week. because of out-of-stock, Derek Gentile, the company's chief executive officer, said angrily: "They can't make the cars advertised. Why are they talking about things that don't even have stock for sale?"
A General Motors plant near Kansas City has been closed since February, while the supply of chips has been mixed. In stock of the Cadillac XT model, there were only 2,000 units left across the US in April, a third less than usual and priced abovee the list price of $ 5,000.
Andrew Arwood drove over an hour to buy a Subaru Crosstrek sport utility vehicle. When he arrived at the store, the employee said the car was out of stock. Arwood reached out to other dealers, but the staff wouldn't allow a test drive if he didn't have the cash and a qualifying loan. "Cars are protected but made of pure gold," Arwood said.
These researchers also found that the SARS-CoV-2 virus has the ability to avoid the action of a protein produced by the body's cells when attacked by the virus. That has resulted in a delayed immune response, allowing the virus to enter and infect the respiratory system.
