The ongoing used vehicle inventory challenge appeared to worsen last month.
In a report released last week by Cox Automotive, analyzing vAuto data, the days of supply decreased by four days from February to 40 days. It is a 15 percent drop from March 2022.
“The supply of used vehicles at dealerships is at its lowest point in our data, which goes back to 2019,” said Cox Automotive Senior Economist Charlie Chesbroughv in a news release. “Finding the right product at the right price is more challenging for buyers today.”
Inventory was even tighter for vehicles priced at the lower end. The report found days supply for vehicles less than $10,000 was at 29 days. There was a 34-day supply of vehicles priced between $10,000 and $15,000 and 37 for vehicles $20,000 to $35,000.
The average listing price was $26,213, which was down slightly from February’s $26,250.
vAuto estimated the total unsold inventory at the end of March at 2.05 million.
With the lack of inventory, sales were down in Mach. Cox reported sales decreased 4 percent compared to the same month in 2022.
“Compared to spring 2021, used-vehicle prices at retail have been relatively stable and trending downward,” Chesbrough said. “However, with tight inventory, still-high used-auto loan rates, and improving new-vehicle inventory, the used-vehicle market might be cooling off in the coming months.”
The average miles for a used vehicle in March was 71,208.
