We all know what happened last year in the automotive world. Profit margins were higher than ever, but ironically, new models were few and far between, especially when shipments slowed to a crawl due to the chip shortage. Currently, used cars are commanding a 37% increase in margin over last year. Automotive chip supplies are looking to be in low supply for quite sometime and that brings good and bad news depending on your dealerships business model. Personally, I bought a car in early October. Although I was looking for a new Tiguan, I was turned by Subaru’s Forester (the touring package). No, it wasn’t a new one, rather a 2018 with 16,700 miles on it and in immaculate condition. I paid the asking price (a shade over 32K) and received an adequate price for my trade-in. This scenario was extremely common all across the USA. Dealerships have had a stellar year, even without new models. Sales were down for many, but they were very profitable by pushing used and CPO vehicles. Everything is inflated now, and nothing seems like it’s going to change in ’22. Here’s a quick look back at the indisputably anomalous numbers of 2021.
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