Thank tax rebates and what many call “spring fever” for dealers’ low inventory.
U.S. dealers averaged 72 days of new-vehicle supply at the beginning of April, down seven days from the start of March, according to Cox Automotive.
Interestingly, used cars below $15,000 continue to show constrained availability with only 33 days’ supply, 25% less than all other price ranges,” says Erin Keating, executive analyst and senior director of Economic and Industry Insights at Cox. “Further, it emphasizes that affordability remains challenging for consumers, and supply is more constrained at lower cost points.”
The top five sellers of the month, Ford, Chevrolet, Toyota, Honda and Nissan, accounted for 49% of all used vehicles sold at an average price of $23,089, more than 9% below the average listing price for all vehicles sold.
Here are some of the other points Cox reports on the latest sales:
- Many Asian-based brands – Nissan and Infiniti, the exceptions – with the tightest days’ supply.
- Toyota continues to thrive on less than half the industry average, with 33 days’ supply.
- Lexus and Honda are only slightly more well stocked with 43 and 46 days’ supply, respectively, vastly lower from some of their domestic competitors.
- Ford kicked off April with days’ supply at 97, Lincoln at 130, and Jeep at 127.
- Dodge and Ram both had days’ supply of more than twice the industry average.
- Of the domestic makes, Chevrolet and Cadillac both began the month with days’ supply below the industry average.
