Chp 1: SCARCITY; unit 1
ENTRY 1
written by: www.business.times.com
Automakers don't have enough cars
keep up with buyers
Car dealerships sold a ton of new vehicles last month, but they could have moved even more—if only they had more cars on hand to sell. The final numbers for August auto sales recently came in and, as expected, it was a monster month for car dealers and automakers.
More than 1.4 million new vehicles were purchased, an increase of 14%. The tally put the U.S. auto market on pace for more than 16 million cars to be sold in 2013, a figure not reached since 2007.
Playing off the hot month of auto sales, Businessweek rounded up a list of seven vehicle models that sold at a rate of less than 90 seconds in the U.S. in August. For example, one Toyota Camry was purchased every 60 seconds, on average. Honda Accords and Civics have been selling every 68 and 69 seconds respectively, while the perennial American best-seller, the Ford F-series truck, required just 38 seconds per sale in August.
While the numbers indicate consumers are clearly in a mood to buy, it hasn’t been a particularly good time to bargain. According to the car-research site TrueCar.com, the average light vehicle purchase price in August was $31,252, an all-time high, and increase of $978 (3.2%) over August 2012. (The average price paid for new cars in 2012 was $30,500, which was a record high at the time.) Drivers have been paying a lot more lately for certain in-demand vehicles. The average Ford Fusion, for instance, has been selling for $26,137, which is 13% more than a year ago, according to TrueCar.
Rising sales, combined with a relative dearth of cars to sell, has meant that dealerships don’t have to bend over backward trying to get drivers to buy. “For consumers, limited supplies of popular models mean bargain prices are harder to come by, even during the annual summer clearance sales,” the Wall Street Journal noted.
Read more on TIMES l http://business.time.com/2013/09/13/automakers-dont-have-enough-cars-to-keep-up-with-buyers/
Auto sales increase because of scarcity, making automakers struggle to keep up with buyers.
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