Used Vehicles in High Demand, How do You Sell Them?

You’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it twice – right now for dealerships, it's a seller's market when it comes to Used vehicles.  

When the pandemic hit, dealerships had to navigate the halts in production. The newest challenge? A spike in the global chip shortage. Although the economy is beginning to gain traction again, the chip shortage, which affects the production of New vehicles, is likely to last at least another year, analysts say. Chips are now as essential to the production of vehicles as the steel, aluminum, and plastic materials used to manufacture your shiny new ride. The chip in your vehicle controls everything on a car from infotainment screens to window motors. 

What Does This Mean For Sales?

 The lack of chips ultimately leads to low inventory of New vehicles to display on your dealership lots. As customers are shopping your inventories online and visiting your showrooms, they’re finding their new vehicle options are limited – and expensive.

Enter: Used vehicles. Due to customer demand, this sales strategy was adopted by dealerships across the country early on in the pandemic – leading to relatively high prices on Used vehicles, pushing customers to consider the New vehicles that were trickling into showrooms.  

As the consumer demand for vehicles continues, the New vehicle inventories staying tight for the foreseeable future due to the global chip shortage, the buying mindset has shifted back to customers searching for Used vehicles. This leaves the door open for dealers to locate and stock their lots with in-demand, valuable Used vehicles, such as vehicles under 2 years old with vehicles in the 3 to 5 years old range as the second most sought-after.

Despite High-Demand, Used Vehicle Sales Can be Challenging!

 With the market currently in flux, dealers will have the opportunity to get creative with their Used vehicle strategy. Dealers will likely see customers becoming flexible when it comes to their Used vehicle purchase, meaning price, mileage, model type, color, and everything in between, there will be more opportunity to make a sale.

Don’t let the numbers and predictions scare you away from stocking your lot with the best Used vehicles you can find. Even with the pandemic starting to settle, moving these units won’t be an issue. For an additional edge above the competition, add iStream to your selling strategy to increase the exposure of your Used vehicle inventory.