U.S. Dealer Inventories at Record High

Car dealers in the U.S. began September with a record 3.86 million unsold cars in inventory because of excess General Motors and Volkswagen models.

The stockpile is equal to a 70-day supply of vehicles, says Automotive News. The figure compares with a 56-day average for the previous 25 years. Normally, carmakers are eager to lower supplies at this time of year to make way for next year’s models.

GM deliberately loaded up on inventory in anticipation of lengthy plant shutdowns for retooling this autumn. But supplies have been ebbing slowly as overall market sales momentum slows.

GM dealers have pared their inventory to 87 days from 104 days at the beginning of August, according to AN. But overall volume is still nearly 164,000 units higher than at this time last year.

VW’s inventories are surging because dealers are beginning to sell repaired diesel-powered models that previously were banned because of the company’s emission test cheating. Some 67,000 of the 475,000 affected cars are now in dealer hands. AN says the inflow has helped balloon VW-brand stockpiles to nearly 177,000 units, double their size a year ago.