Inventory stabilizes in July, but days' supply skyrockets

Author

Colin Velez
August 08, 2024

New vehicle inventory passed the 3 million mark in July for the first time since 2020 but quickly retreated as the effects of the CDK Global outage began to fade.

Big picture: New vehicle inventory has been trending upward for months as demand levels have normalized.

  • July inventory levels averaged 2.94 million units, according to Cox Automotive. That’s slightly down from June’s total of 2.96 million, but 1 million units higher than last year.

  • Weekly data suggests that inventory hit 3 million units toward the beginning of the month during the earlier days of the CDK Global cyberattack.

  • Dealership lots were heavily affected by slower sales. Days’ supply ended the month at 100 days, up 24 days from June, but reached as high as 116 days in early July, a four-year record.

Zooming in: While industry-wide supply levels held steady, inventory continued to vary heavily between brands.

  • Asian automakers continued to see the lowest inventory levels in the industry, although Automotive News reports Hyundai and Kia saw the only month-over-month increase in July.

  • Conversely, Toyota was the only brand to still see less than 30 days of supply.

  • Stellantis’ days’ supply levels continued to outpace the car industry, exceeding 150 days across all of the company’s mass-market brands.

Zooming out: Stellantis’ U.S. sales have quickly trended downward in 2024, dropping 21% year-over-year in the second quarter.

Bottom line: Inventory and sales took an expected hit from June’s DMS outage but quickly stabilized once business returned to normal. However, given July’s higher days’ supply, it seems that it may take longer for the sales rate to even out than previously thought.

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