Shortages of computer chips and other parts continued to hobble the U.S. auto industry last year.
FILE - A row of new Ford Fusions are for sale on the lot at Butler County Ford in Butler, Pa., Nov. 19, 2015. A shortage of computer chips and other parts hobbled the U.S. auto industry in 2022, slowing factories and contributing to an expected 8% decline in sales from the previous year. And although supplies are improving and prices are coming down a little, auto factories aren't likely to get back to full production until next year.
But sales were up slightly in the fourth quarter and inventories grew as parts supplies improved enough to increase production a little. Analysts are now expecting sales to grow by roughly 1 million to around 14.8 million this year as demand remains strong. But they'll still be far short of the normal 17 million per year before the pandemic.
For most of last year, people who wanted new vehicles had to pay sticker price or above and take whatever models and colors dealers could get. But dealers have told Christ that changed a bit in the past two or three months for models that aren't as popular. Plus, he said more people are interested in lower-cost vehicles because inflation and higher interest rates are taking a bite out of their budgets.
Jessica Caldwell, executive director of insights at Edmunds.com, said Toyota's experience is likely to repeat itself through the industry with small price decreases on some models. Caldwell doesn't see vehicle supplies or prices returning to pre-pandemic levels this year, and she's not sure if we'll ever get back to 2019 levels.
As a result, the 13.9 million vehicles that automakers sold last year was about 1.2 million below 2021 numbers, according to Motorintelligence.com.
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