Inventory crisis dragged auto sales to a decade low in 2022

In 2022, US automakers will dominate the luxury and home car segments, with Tesla overtaking BMW and General Motors overtaking Toyota.

according to car news Estimates put Tesla’s sales up 44% to 491,000 units. Demand for the Model Y crossover, which topped last year’s bestseller list, fueled Tesla’s growth. His EV maker in Texas smashed BMW’s top of the luxury car sales charts for the third year in a row, beating the German automaker with nearly 159,000 units and accounting for his 22% of the segment.

GM has reclaimed the title of America’s best-selling automaker in 2022 with nearly 150,000 vehicles after Toyota held the title a year ago. GM reported he sold 2.258 million vehicles in the US, up 2.5%, with the Chevrolet Silverado full-size pickup leading by volume. Toyota finished delivering 2.1 million vehicles, down 9.6%.

Mercedes-Benz recovered in the fourth quarter and ended the year with higher sales. He is one of his three major automakers. However, according to Dimitris Sirakis, CEO of Mercedes-Benz USA, dealers do not have a 30-day supply of vehicles.

“This is a slight improvement compared to the end of 2021,” he said. “We knew the demand and were able to supply the right product to our dealers.”

Shortages of parts, especially microchips, have hit sales at Ford, Stellatis, Nissan Group and American Honda.

Semiconductor supplies are “definitely improving, but not as fast as expected,” said Judy Wheeler, Nissan’s vice president of U.S. sales and regional operations. car news“We face different problems with different suppliers.”

American Honda, which has been in the red for 17 straight months, had the steepest drop of any major automaker last year, at 33%.

Mamadou Diallo, vice president of auto sales at American Honda, said: “We’re starting 2023 with about double the inventory on hand we had in 2022. But the automaker has said inventory won’t return to normal levels until at least the fall. suggesting.