New vehicle sales in March 2022 are expected to finish well behind new car sales from March 2021. According to a sales report by J.D. Power, new vehicle sales for March 2022, when adjusted for the number of selling days, are projected to be down 28.9% compared to last year. The problem continues to be a lack of new vehicles on sale, as fewer than 900,000 cars are reportedly on sale throughout the country. In addition to having a hard time finding a vehicle to buy, shoppers will find that incentives have dried up.
In addition to providing information on projected sales figures for March 2022, J.D. Power’s report also has some information on the lack of available incentives. Manufacturer discounts are moving down to an all-time low of 2.3% claims J.D. Power. Last year, the incentive spend per vehicle that’s expressed as a percentage was 7.7%. March 2022 marks the third consecutive month where the incentive spend per vehicle is below 3.0%. Putting the incentive spend per vehicle figure into a dollar amount instead of a percent paints a grim picture of an all-time low of $1,044. That represents a dramatic decrease of 68.7% less than last year.
One of the major factors for the decrease in incentive spending is due to the lack of deals for leased vehicles. In 2019, leases accounted for 30% of all new vehicle retail sales, while they’ll account for just 18% of retail sales this March.
Despite the low number of vehicles on sale and the lack of incentives, new vehicle prices still remain at record levels. The average transaction price for a new vehicle in March 2022 is expected to be $43,737, which is up 17.4% from last year.
Overall, things continue to be really bad for shoppers. Prices are high as ever, there are fewer choices on dealer lots, and incentives are essentially nonexistent. To make matters worse, vehicles that do arrive at dealerships are only there for a little over a week before they’re purchased. J.D. Power claims that 56% of vehicles sold in March will leave the dealer lot after just 10 days. The continued demand for vehicles from consumers and high prices are a great thing for dealerships, as they continue to benefit from high transaction prices. According to the report, total retailer profit per unit is set to reach $5,013 in the first quarter of 2022, up 126% from last year.
See the Top 0% Financing Deals
Pictured: 2022 Chevrolet Tahoe (Top), 2022 Honda Civic (Middle)
Dealers Are Selling Cars Almost Immediately Amid Shortage
Average Transaction Price May Reach $41,378
Auto Sales Show Signs Of Recovery Heading Into May
Consumers Expected To Spend $41 Billion On Cars This Month
New Car Transaction Prices Set To Exceed $34,000
