For nearly two years, car dealers have been focused on getting more cars onto their lots amid a severe inventory crunch. Now, some are worried about how quickly they will be able to move them off, the Wall Street Journal reported. Slim selection at dealerships since mid-2021 has created a backlog of consumer demand. At many dealerships, that trend has meant that most vehicles arriving from the factory are presold, often at prices well above the manufacturers’ suggested retail price. But as new-vehicle stocks are slowly replenished, some dealers say there are signs that an uncertain economic outlook and higher interest rates are starting to dampen demand.“There is pent-up demand from people who’ve been in the market for six or nine months and haven’t been able to find a car,” said Peter Lanzavecchia, a Marlton, N.J., dealer who sells Hyundai, Genesis, GMC and other brands. “But it’s going to dry up. We’re very concerned about 2023.” A quarterly survey of more than 1,000 U.S. dealers, conducted Oct. 25 to Nov. 7 and released this week by Cox Automotive, shows their outlook for car sales is the gloomiest it has been since the research firm first began the poll in early 2017. The majority of dealers who responded view the current market for selling cars as weak. Overall, they cited the economy and interest rates as the top two factors holding back their business, with a lack of inventory ranking third. Since mid-2021, limited inventory had ranked as their top concern, the surveys showed.
