Black Book, Hearst's data and analytics arm, reveals new-vehicle sales in June have dropped approximately 14% compared to the pre-pandemic year, 2019.
It’s a domino effect caused by the semiconductor chip shortage. The scarcity of the chip has affected the manufacturing of the vehicles, hence affecting new car inventories at dealerships. In the end, the buck stops at the consumer, in the sense that the potential car buyer is affected by the rising cost of used vehicles.
"We saw a substantial drop in available new inventory starting early in the spring due to chip shortage," Alex Yurchenko, senior vice president of data science and analytics at Black Book, told Car and Driver. "The inventory was dropping fast throughout the spring [as] dealers were selling everything they got with very low incentives and high speed."
Black Book’s forecast for 2021 sales remains at 16 million, compared to the 17 million units sold in the U.S. in 2019, Car and Driver reported.
Yurchenko added, "We expect the sales to remain below 2019 (and 2020) levels, at least in Q3, with some rebound later this year. The timing is still a big unknown. Even talking to OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) does not help. Once the production numbers are restored, we expect the incentives to go up as many OEMs will fight to regain market share."
Sales may not be better for the rest of the year, as automakers are still struggling to increase supply due to the microchip shortage, making it difficult for them to keep up with consumer demand.
Alerts Sign-up