Inventory at its highest point in nearly 2 years

New-vehicle inventories rose slightly last month to their highest point in nearly two years as production constraints continue to ease, according to data compiled by Cox Automotive and the Automotive News Research & Data Center.

Cox’s most recent estimate of the US inventory is 1,893,855 vehicles, a 56-day supply. That is up from the 1,828,290, or a 58-day supply, in the previous month, and about 70 percent above where inventory was a year earlier. Still, it remains roughly 540,000 vehicles compared to the same point in 2021, when inventories began shrinking quickly.

Cox computes days’ supply based on the selling rate of the previous 30-day period.

Cox said midsize, compact and subcompact cars continued to have the tightest supplies among volume segments, while full-size cars and full-size pickups had the highest days’ supply among nonluxury vehicles.

Inventory levels for Detroit 3 brands were returning to pre-pandemic levels. Ram, Jeep, Chrysler and Buick had more than 100 days’ supply on hand. Jaguar was the only other brand to top the 100-day mark, Cox said.

At a nameplate level, Cox noted that Detroit supplies 3 full-size pickups were all in excess of 80 days, with Ram topping the list at a 105-day supply.

On the other end of the spectrum, 16 of the 17 top-selling nameplates with the fewest copies in inventory belong to Asian brands, with the only exception being the Ford Bronco.

Of the seven automakers that continue to report monthly sales and inventory, three saw their days’ supply estimates rise last month, three saw a slight decline, and Subaru stayed flat for a second consecutive month.

Ford Motor Co. remained the days’ supply leader among reporting automakers, crossing the two-month threshold.

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