Ford inventory of the F150, the best selling vehicle in the US, has fallen as much as 40 percent in recent months, according to Automotive News, although many car audio dealers around the country have not seen an impact.
The F150 shortages arose from a fire at a key aluminum plant supplying Ford last September with another fire shortly after at the same plant. Cars.com just published an article saying its F150 inventory is down 23 percent since October.
Due to the popularity of the F150, car dealers tend to keep inventory levels at well over 100 days, but currently that level has dropped almost in half to a 57 day supply, said Automotive News in its recent “Daily Drive” YouTube podcast.
Two car audio expeditors acknowledged the shortages including Joe Cardinale of Action Auto, NJ. “There’s been a lack of inventory, but [Ford] dealers are now expecting them to come in this month and the beginning of June. At least in our market, we’re expecting them to come in soon.”
Most car audio dealers we contacted had not seen shortages in their markets and had not seen an impact to their business. Among these were Dave Wall of Freeman’s Car Stereo, NC and Dan Bowman of Adding Machine Garage, TN.
But car dealers have not been so fortunate. The Daily Drive said automotive dealers, having to satisfy customer demands for particular vehicles, have had to reach further and further out geographically to other dealers in order to find suitable models.
The podcast said Ford will skip its summer slowdown at its factories to help fill the pipeline. It confirmed that inventory will start to build this month and June, reaching full quantities in July or August.
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