U.S. Dealer Inventories Near 15-Year High Highs

New-car dealers in the U.S. are sitting on inventories of nearly 4.2 million unsold vehicles, only 114,300 units short of the any-month record set in May 2004, says Automotive News.

The current total is more than 500,000 units more that the stockpile dealers had accumulated in early 2007, just before the Great Recession began.

Car sales are still historically strong in the U.S. But even the gradual decline in demand already apparent is working against the industry’s long-fought effort to exert price discipline whenever sales dip.

Dealers tell AN that the glut, rising floorplan interest rates and continuing factory pressure to take more cars are hiking inventory carrying costs. The newspaper notes that the dealers with by far the large number of cars on their lots are those representing General Motors, Ford and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.