Iowa’s new-vehicle registration recorded an increase of 28% during the first half of 2021, compared to the same period last year, according to statistics from Radio Iowa.
This year, from January to June, vehicle sales totaled 72,899, compared to 56,898 for the first half of 2020. Car sales posted 8,621 units from January to June 2021 versus 8,535 units sold during the same period last year. Truck sales, on the other hand, showed a significant increase, with 64,278 for the first half of this year, compared to last year’s 48,363 for the same period.
“Manufacturing hasn’t stopped, but it has significantly slowed and, interestingly, demand hasn’t,” Bruce Anderson, president of the Iowa Automobile Dealers Association, told Radio Iowa.
Dealership inventories are getting up to 70% of the new vehicles they normally receive, but more of them are actually presold, Radio Iowa reported. Anderson said showrooms in Iowa have turned into “empty dance floors."
Anderson also told Radio Iowa that consumer expectations are changing. “Every one of the 300 franchised new-car dealerships in Iowa have got a website with a more robust virtual experience than ever before. We’re talking multiple photographs, detailed reports, even videos of the inventory before you ever take that test drive.”
Vehicle sales in the first six months of this year recorded the highest number of vehicles sold to Iowans in 15 years.
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