New Car Inventory Ticks Up, Demand Remains Static

Marketed Pricing Discounts Increase by $1,000 Year-Over-Year

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich., July 2, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- ZeroSum, an automotive retail agency that provides cutting-edge inventory-based digital marketing solutions tailored to dealers, has released its July State of the Dealer report, its up-to-date and forward-looking assessment of the new, used, and certified automotive market. The State of the Dealer report strives to address the question of whether it is going to get harder or easier for dealers to sell a vehicle in the next 30 days. The near-term answer is "about the same", but there needs to be a greater focus on vehicle pricing and inventory visibility as the supply-demand balance gradually shifts. 

New vehicle inventory is slowly approaching the 3.0MM mark, but the used and certified market have seen relatively static supply trends. Vehicle movement counts have remained steady in all three sectors. Marketed prices for new vehicles continue to see a small rebound from their fall and winter declines, with a current level of $50,571. But market adjustment levels—which measure the marketed discount from MSRP—have increased by $1,000 over the course of the past year.

"Even though inventory growth is slowing, it is still ticking up; couple that with the flat movement and turn rate picture and there will be a bit more pressure on dealers," said Jeff Englishmen, Vice President of Dealer Success at ZeroSum. "The increasing market adjustment figures point to the need for a dealer's pricing and inventory visibility to remain competitive in order to increase the likelihood of a sale."

Used vehicle inventories have remained relatively static, remaining in a very narrow range since Fall 2023. Used vehicle movement also remained static, staying at 1.29 million. The 30-day forecast for July points to a continuance of this narrow range, predicting 1.28 million.

"The stable scenario in the used market helps dealers plan their sales strategies," said Englishmen. "Dynamics in this sector remain competitive, indicating that pricing and marketing should continue to be a prominent focus in order to attract consumers and close deals."

Click here to download ZeroSum's entire July State of the Dealer Report, including vehicle movement, turn rate, days-to-move, inventory, and pricing trends for new, used, and certified vehicles.

About ZeroSum

ZeroSum is an industry leader in software, marketing, and data. Powered by its SaaS platform, MarketAI, ZeroSum is simplifying and modernizing automotive marketing by leveraging artificial intelligence, data, and scaling ability to acquire new customers. ZeroSum is the first and only company that matches consumer demand with automotive data in real-time for dealer marketing efficiency. For more information, visit www.zerosum.ai

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SOURCE Advance Local Media LLC d/b/a ZeroSum