Ford’s U.S. electric vehicle sales were up 168.7% in July with the Mustang Mach-E up 74.1%.
Demand for new- and used-vehicles will not abate any time soon due to the tremendous pent-up demand that will carry through calendar-year 2022. Industry-wide (both retail and fleet), it is estimated that there were 4 million vehicles worth of pent-up demand at the start of calendar-year 2022.
This State of the Fleet Industry episode covers the impact of the parts shortage, revelations of the pandemic on the auto industry, as well as what's causing the supply chain disruption.
There were a slew of OEM‐related ordering, production, and cancellation challenges. Throughout the model-year, there were large shifts in buildout times as well as a number of post‐buildout cancellations of accepted orders.
Automotive Fleet views itself as a facilitator to provide a platform for different voices from the industry to sound-off on today’s challenges. This regular column is designed to encourage discourse for fleet professionals to let their voices be heard to their peers and other industry professionals. Here is what is top of mind for North American fleet professionals on the issue of inventory constraints and vehicle availability.
Two universal challenges faced by fleet managers in the 2021 model-year were longer lead times and tight product availability, particularly constrained was van and truck chassis availability. The COVID lockdowns in 2020 and the shutdown of all North American assembly plants from mid-March to mid-May 2020 triggered a domino effect resulting in delays with the new model-year bid process during a period of widespread budget constraints.
Topics discussed included understanding and managing DMV capabilities through the U.S. through the pandemic; overcoming the latest order-to-delivery challenges; and other strategies to help expedite the license and titling processes.
Due to the global shortage of semiconductors used in automobiles, OEMs are telling car rental companies to expect “significant delays” with fleet orders. One operator has had a large order canceled outright.
Automotive Fleet has developed a reference guide of the most up-to-date industry data on the market to support fleet professionals.
Upfitters experienced a whipsaw effect of robust fleet orders straining their pre-pandemic production capacity and within the space of a month were struggling with chassis shortages due to the suspension of vehicle production.
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