Dealers sitting on high inventory
A recent dealership tour found North American dealer lots holding inventory levels above historical norms — that mismatch is forcing dealers and finance partners to run aggressive incentive and product programs. (rnssurgery.com)
Cox Automotive’s market snapshot showed U.S. dealer lots peaked at about 2.83 million new vehicles on July 1, 2025, with days’ supply climbing to roughly 82 days as sales lagged supply. (coxautoinc.com) Manufacturer-level distortions are acute: Ford’s new-vehicle days’ supply hit roughly 101 days in June 2025, while reporting and analysis flagged many brands with 90–150+ days’ supply during mid‑2025. (fordauthority.com) Advertised incentives have widened—Kelley Blue Book calculated June 2025 incentives at about 6.9% of average transaction price (≈$3,400), and industry trackers documented a wave of interest‑rate buydowns, cash rebates and lease specials rolling out in late‑2024/2025. (kbb.com) Captive and OEM finance arms resumed subsidized financing and 0% APR programs into 2026, with month‑by‑month listings of 0% and low‑APR deals appearing across marques as part of broader program activity. (kbb.com) Wholesale/floorplan lenders and vendors are tightening monitoring and deploying new tooling as inventory carrying costs rise; Tamarack and others have introduced integrated floorplan data tools, and DataScan’s wholesale audit capabilities—now acquired by Solifi—serve dozens of banks and captive programs. (equipmentfinancenews.com) Consolidation of technology is already affecting lender workflows: Solifi’s acquisitions of Leasepath and DataScan expanded origination and inventory/audit capabilities, while customer implementations show measurable outcomes—Apex Commercial Capital reported a fourfold improvement in time‑to‑decision after going live on Leasepath Enterprise, and Rosenthal completed a staged conversion to Solifi’s equipment platform in about eight weeks. (leasinglife.com) Model‑year carryover and fleet timing amplified the mismatch—Cox and Wards Auto flagged the arrival of 2025‑model vehicles as a material contributor to elevated lots during 2025, and consultancy analysis warned dealer margins would be squeezed by higher carrying costs and incentive pressure. (wardsauto.com)
