The National Automobile Dealers Association reported inventories of new vehicles dropped to a 24-day supply across the country even after the annual rate of sales of in United States dropped to 12.2 million in September.
NADA also said it was reducing its sales forecast for new vehicles to 15.2 million units from 16.5 projected earlier as manufacturers continued to extend production shutdown due to shortages.
Semiconductor shortage remains key
“The biggest story this year in the auto industry has been the semiconductor microchip shortage, which has severely impacted vehicle production throughout the globe,” said NADA Chief Economist Patrick Manzi.
“Supply chain disruptions have limited new vehicle production which has translated into less vehicle inventory on dealer lots, and restricted new vehicle sales,” he added.
At the end of the third quarter, new vehicle inventory in the U.S. was just under 1 million units or approximately 24 days of supply — a 65% decrease from the start of 2021. In contrast, at the end of the third quarter in 2020, inventory was at 2.7 million units or a 50-day supply.
Suppressed inventory levels are unlikely to change significantly before the end of the year and will continue into 2022, NADA reported.
NADA also said while not a limiting factor earlier in the year, reduced inventory has slowed new vehicle sales in recent months. The September SAAR fell to 12.2 million units, only 100,000 units above the SAAR observed in May 2020 when most of the U.S. was under COVID lockdowns.
While overall sales were down, sales of battery electric vehicle sales topped 300,635 through the first nine months of the year, an increase of 91.3% compared to the same time in 2020.
GM still dealing with Bolt problems
General Motors said it will extend the shutdown of the company’s assembly plant in Orion Township outside of Detroit as a result of a battery pack shortage related to the recently announced Bolt EV/EUV safety recall, which began last summer.
The shutdown of the Orion plant has been extended to include the weeks of Oct. 18 and Oct. 25. The Orion Assembly plant has been down since Aug. 23.
GM also said production of Chevrolet Equinox at an assembly plant is Ramos Arizpe will shut for additional three weeks due to the global shortage of semiconductors through the week of Nov. 15. Production of the Chevrolet Equinox has been shut since Aug. 16.
GM also said Ramos Assembly plant will resume one shift of production of Chevrolet Blazer on Oct. 18.