Robust production schedules boosted the number of light-vehicles on U.S. dealer lots for a second time in November, even as stronger post-Hurricane Sandy sales trimmed the days’ supply by 4.1%.
In total there were 3,195,886 new cars and light-trucks in stock at the end of November, up 147,000 units from prior-month’s 3,048,729 and 32.1% ahead of year-ago’s 2,418,887.
That gave the industry a 4.2% step up on the 3,182,300-unit November average for the last 28 years, ranking last month supply near the middle of the pack with 15 years of more units and 12 years of less.
The high watermark was reached in 2004 when stocks totaled 3,941,006 units with 84 days’ supply, while the low was in 2009 with 2,011,407 and 64 days.’
Total days’ supply last month dropped to 70 days’ from October’s somewhat above-normal 73, Asian and European brands were still subpar, averaging 57 and 51 days’, respectively.
Among the Detroit Three, Chrysler rose to 90 days’ from 83, while General Motors climbed to 106 from 98. However, Ford saw a slight decline to 76 from 81 in October.
GM saw an alarming rise in fullsize pickup stocks, with the Silverado up to 138 days’ on Nov. 30 from 109 in October and the Sierra rising to 146 from 118, prompting production cutbacks to keep the situation from getting out of hand.
Chrysler faced similar action for its light-duty Ram pickup, whose inventory hit 105 days’ supply in November compared with prior-month’s 99.
Ford saw no need for p for production adjustments, with the supply of F-Series pickups dipping to 90 days ’ from 94 in October.
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