THE popularity of ‘in-stock’ vehicles has shot up according to Leasing.com as the global shortage of semiconductors continues to impact the production of new cars.
This significant rise in enquiries for in-stock vehicles within the leasing sector means that, although reduced manufacturing output means new car sales have been hit, dealerships and brokers have been able to clear existing stock with a behavioural shift, according to data from the lease deal aggregator site.
April 2021’s global lead times for vehicle production almost doubled from the 12 week wait in February, to 22 weeks. This increase in just a few months has caused some leasing customers to shift focus, says Leasing.com, happy to settle for in-stock models already built and in the UK, even if the specification isn’t exactly what they would have picked.
The website’s data shows that in-stock orders were up 7% on factory orders; in April 2019 factory orders were 27% higher. Many dealerships have stockpiled vehicles as a legacy from lockdown periods when they couldn’t open. As such, there are larger stocks than would normally be seen, with greater choice for customers.
Paul Harrison, head of strategic partnerships at Leasing.com, said:
“During the multiple lockdowns, our advertising and funder partners reported an increase in consumers and SMEs extending their existing lease agreements, as well as requests to cut annual mileage allowances and a general reduction in vehicle usage.
“At the start of this year, our YouGov research showed that 18% of UK motorists expected to replace their car in 2021. That research has proven correct with new car demand on our website increasing each month this year.
“More recently, consumer demand has switched to in-stock vehicles as a result of current production issues and this has helped our dealer and broker partners who have been able to access stock, meet in-market consumer demand and help their bottom lines recover from the disruption of the pandemic.”
