For all the talk of low stocks, and automobile dealerships adding
” market changes” on top of MSRP, there were almost a.
half-million units of leftover 2022 model year vehicles still.
advertised for sale in the United States heading into the first.
weekend of December. That is on top of the 2023 cars that have.
been showing up on dealership lots.According to S&P Global Mobilitys analysis of United States dealer.
advertised inventory information, mainstream brand names Ford, Chevrolet, Ram,.
and Jeep had about 300,000 units of 2022 models advertised as.
available for sale the week ending December 4. Those four brands.
account for 71% of 2022 marketed inventory noted by mainstream.
brand name dealerships – and 66% of all dealer-advertised inventory when.
including luxury marques.Among luxury brand names, Mercedes-Benz and Lincoln still showed the.
most remaining 2022 automobiles in dealer marketed stock,.
according to the S&P Global Mobility analysis.While most automakers traditionally reduce off production in late.
summer season to transition to the new model year, and clear out the last.
of their old models by Christmas, certain car manufacturers in fact have.
seen their 2022 stocks increase in October and November.” Model year discipline has dropped,” stated Cheryl Woodworth,.
speaking with associate director for S&P Global Mobility. “With.
the chip shortage, inventory control is not as meticulous as it.
used to be.” Is running old inventories into the brand-new model year a bad thing?
It can be for automakers, but it might spell retail relief for.
consumers. With 22 designs carrying the preconception of being “older” -.
even if the 2023 design is the same – that can imply dealerships are.
incentivized to burn out the zero-miles 22s.” The longer you wait to change over your design year, the more it.
hits your residual values in terms of tougher grading,” Woodworth.
said.Some dealerships are providing below-MSRP discounts on automobiles that.
carried sticker-price-plus Monroney labels simply months before. And.
with customer need subsiding due to external financial forces such as.
inflation and recession-related layoffs, the pressure to move the.
metal increases.Usually, the inventory arc for each design year follows a.
predictable curve, peaking in spring as production hits its stride,.
and then coming down in summer during the annual selldown and the.
design year shifts in September and October. But supply chain.
mayhem has made it difficult for some automakers to follow.
tradition.That said, with particular components of the supply chain still in.
flux, it may make good sense for making connection to continue.
If a 2023 minor model modification consists of a part, developing 2022 models.
that is not readily offered, Woodworth said.In November, Ford was still providing 2022 Escapes to.
car dealerships from its Louisville factory, as the 2023 small model.
change is still ramping up. The same extension of late.
production 22 designs applies to the Ford Bronco Sport and Lincoln.
Corsair, which share numerous of their foundations with the Escape.
platform.Remaining 2022 systems are typically specific to particular models. In.
the market for a luxury SUV? The models with the highest remaining.
2022 model year units are the Mercedes-Benz GLC and Lincoln.
Corsair.Why the excess 22 Mercedes GLCs? Its still waiting for a 2023.
freshening – the national mbusa.com website still wasnt listing.
the 2023 as available on December 15 – and as such 2022 models are.
still in strong supply. Among luxury brands, Mercedes had 33% share.
of staying 22 models still promoted the week ending December.
4, while Lincoln represented 22% share of remaining high-end.
22s. That stated, Mercedes dealers have actually done a strong task of selling.
down its 2022 inventories from mid-summer in anticipation of the.
23 design arriving. And other essential Mercedes volume models – GLE,.
S-Class, and C-Class – are mostly represented by 2023 model.
production.Supply chain hiccups likewise are impacting inventories in other.
methods. Tens of thousands of so-called “ghost units” of the F-150 and.
Chevrolet Silverado have rolled off the assembly line but were.
missing out on essential parts, and have been gathering in parking lots.
near their respective factories until they can be launched. On top.
of those unfinished systems, Ford dealers had almost as numerous F-150s.
advertised the week ending December 4 as they did in August in.
September. When the ghost units finally receive their required parts.
and go into wholesale stock – Ford hopes it will happen by the.
end of December – that will contribute to the pressure to clean out the.
22 models at the dealer level.The integrated black-swan events of COVID, semiconductor.
scarcities, and the Russian intrusion of Ukraine disrupted.
standard production and supply norms – the most recent downstream.
impact being the overrun of previous model-year production and.
stock. How the industry can recover to its routine cadence.
depends on its adaptability to these continued disruptions.

This post was released by S&P Global Mobility and not by S&P Global Ratings, which is an individually handled division of S&P Global.