New car stock levels up and down across brands as factory closures and chip shortage bite established brands
First it was the COVID-19 pandemic. And now, an ongoing shortage of semi-conductor chips is putting the brakes on global vehicle production as demand for new cars rebounds in Australia and key auto markets.
Local new car stock levels are patchy as a result. Indeed, while some brands are more affected than others, the real story is inconsistency – not all brands, nor all models within brands are affected equally.
To better gauge the effect of factory closures and the semi-conductor shortage, carsales has polled key mass market and prestige brands – first in October 2020, then February 2021, and most recently, early this month (July). Here’s an overview of the state of play…
Ranger supply strong
Utes and SUVs are in hot demand in Australia and critically for Ford, the brand expects to have a good supply of its top-selling Ranger, and Ranger-based Everest SUV, until at least the third quarter of the year.
However, the news wasn’t as good for those in market for a Pony car, with limited stock causing Mustang waiting periods on some colours and variants to stretch out to Q4 2021.
Interest in the Blue Oval’s new Escape SUV is strong, but limited supply means there are waiting periods into late Q4, 2021, and early 2022, according to Ford.
Toyota, Australia’s top-selling brand, noted the effect of a global increase in demand across high volume models.
“We are anticipating that wait times for high-demand models and some accessories will be longer than usual in the coming months. Our Dealers will continue to provide updates to our customers on vehicle delivery timeframes for individual orders,” a Toyota spokesperson said.
Hyundai healthy
There was better news for Hyundai new car shoppers looking to take immediate delivery of a brand new car. According to the brand: “We currently have healthy new car stock levels in dealership.”
“Supply for Australia is not affected,” its spokesperson stated.
Similarly, Mazda is bullish about its future supply and sales potential. A Mazda spokesperson noted that tighter Mazda3 supply was the only cause for concern, as the brand continues to rebound from its 2020 sales performance.
Kia, on the other hand, noted that their supply was down about 10% on normal levels.
The fast-growing Korean brand strategically delayed the launch of key models such as the Carnival, Stonic, Niro, and Cerato this year by up to two months, to ensure it had received the volume required to fulfill its sales expectations.
Crucially, the brand is still on track to launch a PHEV-variant of its acclaimed, carsales COTY-winning Sorento, later this year.
Challenger MG on track to surge
Burgeoning Chinese brand MG has weathered the semi-conductor and COVID challenges well. With good supply of its core ZS/ZST small SUV and MG 3 models, the brand is looking towards consistent sales in the coming months.
According to MG: “Given the scale of our parent company and the stability of our current line-up, MG has weathered the semi-conductor storm very well. It has put pressure on pricing on some cars, but no shortages have been experienced or are anticipated.”
One MG to cop a price hike was the MG ZS EV – Australia’s cheapest electric vehicle and second-best EV seller behind the Tesla Model 3. The popular midsize SUV is now is now $1000 more expensive at $44,990 drive-away. The price increase sweetened a touch thanks to the fact it now also comes with a seven-year, unlimited-km warranty, in line with rest of the MG range.
Patrol blows out
At Nissan, burgeoning demand for off-road vehicles has seen the waiting list for the Nissan Patrol blow out.
A Nissan spokesperson told carsales: “While supply has increased substantially over the past six months to all-time highs, many new Patrol customers will now have to wait several months for delivery, as most stock arriving has already been sold to customers.”
There was mixed news at Volkswagen, with the brand securing supply of the Polo, T-Cross, T-Roc, Tiguan Allspace and Passat ranges, while the crisis hits supply of new Mk8 Golf, the recently revised Tiguan normal wheelbase range, and the Touareg.
While those after a performance Subaru are destined to wait a little longer, with the next generation WRX now anticipated to take delivery in early 2022, as opposed to late 2021, while Outback, Forester & XV orders are now out to a three-month wait.
German luxos affected
Popular German luxury brands have not been immune to the crisis either.
BMW Australia also joined Mercedes-Benz, its most direct competitor in adjusting the price and equipment levels of some of its most popular models.
The German car-maker has confirmed to carsales that it has been forced to “temporarily revise the specification of certain models” and has adjusted pricing accordingly.
A number of models built for Australia in May will revert to the Driving Assistant safety suite as standard, instead of the more advanced Driving Assistant Professional system.
At Mercedes-Benz, a spokesperson noted that “demand is certainly outstripping supply, with demand strong across the entire range.”
The brand admits that supply of its popular A-Class based compact cars has been affected to the greatest degree by the crisis.
June market strong
In June, three utes – the Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux, and Isuzu D-MAX – racked up almost 15,000 sales between them in the end-of-financial-year rush.
Big winners for the month included Ford (+10.9%), GWM (+237.9%), Isuzu Ute (+49.2%), Jeep (+25.9%), Kia (+37.8%), LDV (+64%), Mazda (+29.8%), MG (+219.2%), MINI (+26.7%), Renault (+49.4%), Skoda (+26.3%) and Suzuki (+18.1%).
Further reading
VFACTS June: Ranger, HiLux and D-MAX dominate EOFY sales
Fixed prices in for Honda in Australia
VW CPO program drives more sales opportunities for dealers
