The microchip shortage has forced manufacturers to slow production of many vehicles—and as a result, the number of new cars reached a record low this summer.
What does it mean for new cars?
It’s just a slight increase, but it could mean the new car inventory is finally starting to improve.
At the end of July, the total number of new cars available for sale stood at 1.2 million. As KBB reports, that was down from 1.3 million in June. The sales pace had slowed slightly, but now car shoppers are reportedly returning to showrooms amid signs of an economic recovery.
The sales rate may have been falling because car shoppers don’t want to pay high prices, or because they can’t find the car they want with the short supply.
While the supply does seem to be stabilizing a bit, inventory remains tight—but some car brands are in a better place than others.
At the end of July, Kia, Honda, and Toyota tied for the tightest inventory, with each having only a 20 days’ supply.
The carmakers with the most inventory were Alfa Romeo dealers at 105, Fiat dealers at 97, and Ram dealers at 65.
Other vehicles with inventories at or above the national average, regardless of model year, include Jeep Grand Cherokee, Chevrolet Equinox, Ford Escape, Honda Pilot, and the Ford F-150, among a few others.
The Chevrolet Corvette Stingray has had the shortest supply of any vehicle—but this also could be because the carmaker has had limited supplies for some parts of the vehicle all year, rather than the microchip shortage.
The hardest new cars to find
Meanwhile, minivans are the hardest vehicles to find and saw some of the lowest inventory numbers of any vehicle type. In fact, there was just recently only 10 days’ supply of Kia’s newest 2022 Carnival minivan.
Though SUVs and trucks have also been in low supply this year, their inventory numbers improved slightly in July.