April U.S. auto sales fall on shortages

“Provide shortages continued to severely constrain SAAR in April,” reported Jesse Toprak, chief analyst at Autonomy, “and we don’t foresee any important aid right until the fourth quarter of this 12 months.”

That was surely the story at Honda. The manufacturer began April with about 18,000 automobiles on dealership loads and entered Might with only 12,235, “which means there were only 11 Hondas on the floor at the normal retail outlet and a a few-working day offer,” stated Mike Kistemaker, assistant vice president of sales for the Honda model.

The scarcest nameplates ended up the Civic and CR-V, which “completed with a one-day offer and convert fees perfectly above 90 per cent,” Kistemaker said. “I have never seen a one particular-working day provide of our product or service.”

For Toyota North America, gross inventory figures actually expanded in April by almost 11 p.c to a lot more than 137,000 autos, but its extensive logistics tail left the much larger Japanese automaker setting up May well with just 13,831 automobiles distribute throughout its 1,500 Toyota and Lexus dealerships in the U.S.

Kia also noted ongoing stock woes. “We carry on to have challenges with production and distribution of our autos,” reported Eric Watson, head of U.S. income for Kia. “Our seller inventories continue to be at historic lows, somewhere in between 7 and nine days’ supply of cars on the floor.”