Several weeks ago I read an article that quoted a Toyota executive saying that they want dealerships to maintain low inventory regardless of chip supply. I'm sure the other automakers are gonna do the same.

Welcome to the GREAT RESET.

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Originally posted by a1abdj:

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Why have a middleman when you can order a new car right from the carmaker and have it delivered right to your house?

Likely because at this point none of the major manufacturers have any interest in selling cars directly to consumers.

I'll make a prediction. Within the next 5 to 10 years, your only option will be a lease.

My department was just told by the Chevy/GMC rep that if we are going to order new vehicles in next year's budget (that goes in effect July 1st....Don't wait until then. If we order now we will get the new vehicles sometime in 2023, if we wait until July we will not see our new orders until sometime in 2024. Which should be right as we ordered back in July 2021 and still waiting. We have been told we will get the new vehicles in June.....of this year.

Another department next to mine had ordered Dodge Durangos back in July or August 2021. They were just told that Dodge is cancelling all First Responder orders and only making vehicles for commercial sales due to chip shortage.

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GM's Brightdrop ev van

Isn't this a commercial vehicle being sold to mega corporations only now like FedEx and Walmart, it's not direct to consumer as in individuals?

Neighbor is in the dealer service industry, one of the topics has been the loss of service revenue to dealers as EV's become the norm, oil changes etc, few folks go to the dealer for tire rotations etc. Warranty work will be the main stay of "dealerships" in whatever form they survive.

Right now no manufacturing company, Tesla included can sell direct to consumer, even though you can order a Tesla on it's web page it has to have a dealer in every state to effect a delivery.

State Franchise laws cover this, so until the laws in all 50 states are changed there are no direct to consumer sales allowed.

Had my Highlander in for service last week. They had 0 Toyota's on the showroom floor. But they had 3 New Bronco's inside and 2 just outside the showroom.

My salesman said the owner had a large allotment from his Ford store and shipped them over. Told him I didn't think the Bronco's belonged on the showroom floor, period. Kinda of felt bad for him with nothing much to sell.

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Originally posted by a1abdj:
Likely because at this point none of the major manufacturers have any interest in selling cars directly to consumers.

Sure they do. The entire market wants to go that way. The only thing keeping them from doing it is that it's illegal in a lot of states.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/mone...49fb9bb632561c12ad0f

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Originally posted by Jupiter:
I'll make a prediction. Within the next 5 to 10 years, your only option will be a lease.

Not a chance. Maybe one day but it sure won't be in 5 or even 10 years.

When or if it does happen it will be because of customer preferance because people are terrible at personal finance and great at making payments.

Local Buick-GMC dealer turned their used car lot into an RV sales center. I think they have some classic display cars in their showroom. New/used inventory is probably less than a dozen vehicles

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Originally posted by 1s1k:

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Originally posted by Jupiter:
I'll make a prediction. Within the next 5 to 10 years, your only option will be a lease.

Not a chance. Maybe one day but it sure won't be in 5 or even 10 years.

When or if it does happen it will be because of customer preferance because people are terrible at personal finance and great at making payments.

You could be right. We'll see.

IMO, Car and Trucks ownership is heading the same direction as Home ownership. A Lease/Rent/Subscription model for most.

There will be a major push for subscription services for those pricy Electric Vehicles in the coming years. A quick google search can spot the trends.

I'm friends with the sales manager at my local Toyota place.

His dealership looks the same. Very little new inventory. Top dollar for trade-ins. They've moved the used mixed inventory to what used to be the new Toyota inventory lot. He blames the chips, COVID, green initiatives, and politics.

He said the former model of going to the lot and picking out a new Toyota is probably over. Order and wait. My wife just bought a new high-end RAV4 for $30K. When we got to the lot after it had come off the truck, they had $32K on the paperwork. I asked why. $2K markup over sticker on 2WD and $4K on 4WD. Haggling is over, too. Pay their price or walk. People are paying.

I don't really blame the manufacturers. I blame politics. I can't prove it, but I think the goal is to have us in electric vehicles within the next 10 years, whether we like it or not.

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Originally posted by Jupiter:

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Originally posted by 1s1k:

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Originally posted by Jupiter:
I'll make a prediction. Within the next 5 to 10 years, your only option will be a lease.

Not a chance. Maybe one day but it sure won't be in 5 or even 10 years.

When or if it does happen it will be because of customer preferance because people are terrible at personal finance and great at making payments.

You could be right. We'll see.

IMO, Car and Trucks ownership is heading the same direction as Home ownership. A Lease/Rent/Subscription model for most.

There will be a major push for subscription services for those pricy Electric Vehicles in the coming years. A quick google search can spot the trends.

Toyota and BMW have both tried the subscription route to unlock desirable options and so far everyone has told them to pound sand. I hope everyone stays the course.

If chip shortages are the cause of the new car shortage, then why are smart phones still plentiful?

This is an honest question. I’m not trying to be a smart ass.

This won't last. And there is going to be a hellofa buyers market on used cars before too long.

Don't buy into this crap.

On my way down to southern indiana there is a small town I drive through with a Ford dealership. They used to have nice new trucks sitting on their lot. Now they are lucky to have 2 new vehicles and half a dozen used. But they have started stocking John Deere farm equipment on the lot. And we're not talking about lawn and garden stuff either.

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Originally posted by phil in indy:
On my way down to southern indiana there is a small town I drive through with a Ford dealership. They used to have nice new trucks sitting on their lot. Now they are lucky to have 2 new vehicles and half a dozen used.

Same thing in the closest small town in my area. A thriving dealership a couple of years ago has a empty lot now. Other dealerships in the area look like used car lots.

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Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
If chip shortages are the cause of the new car shortage, then why are smart phones still plentiful?

This is an honest question. I’m not trying to be a smart ass.

Fair question, I found the answer at motor trend magazine.

The auto industry only represents five percent of the chip industry, so it lacked much clout to get what it needs.

Cars use a lot of older, lower-tech "legacy" chips that cost only a few dollars each and have lower profit margins so there is less incentive for chipmakers to invest in more capacity. The low cost of legacy chips belies their importance. Vehicles rely on such chips for everything from door locks and infotainment to brakes and advanced driver assist systems. Advanced wafers that incorporate more chips are more plentiful; suppliers would rather make more sophisticated chips, made with newer technology that can put more chips on a single silicon wafer, and yield a better return.

The reality is that say 2 years ago, when stealers had inventory, they started to panic. The first vehicle mfr, couldn’t tell you which, got skurred, and massively reduced their chip orders some time in 2020 for 2021. Chip mfr’s said, ok, fuck you then, and pivoted to other electronics, like say phones, computers, etc. Other vehicle mfr’s bet the same and pulled chip orders. They made the wrong choice, and chip mfr’s are loyal to the companies who kept ordering. Automobile mfr’s for the first time were in the rear with the gear as it pertains to this.

Supply will catch up with demand but it won’t be until late 2023. Between now and then, be lucky if you can get parts. I took my DD in today for state inspection, and to check the AC because it’s not blowing cold. I was worried if there was a leak, parts could take weeks or months and we are headed into our hot as fuck and humid as fuck season. Luckily it just needed the Freon charge or whatever they are calling it now. I’m definitely driving less than I ever have currently.

All the lots are looking sad, Toyota is especially sad.
It used to be that the mirrors were folded because the vehicles were so close together, not today.
At some point this will be over and there will be thousands of two and three year old "new" vehicles with recently installed chips. It will be interesting to see how that works out.

I was at my Toyota dealer recently for my free oil change. Service was busy. Looking at the empty new vehicle lot I opined to the service writer that it looked like it was better to be in service than in sales. He smiled and said, "We still sell lots of vehicles, but they are already sold when the truck arrives."

The local Toyota dealer has little of nothing in the new lot and the used lot is full of non Toyota hoopties.
However if you desire a Chevrolet Bolt there are about 20 of them in assorted colors available for immediate delivery at the dealer next door. These might be okay for toodling around town but heaven help the person that has MidWest rural distances to travel. I suppose you could pack one of those Honda suitcase generators in the trunk, if there is one, to recharge for the return trip once you got to your destination.