U.S. Inventories of Unsold SUVs on the Rise

Dealer supplies of unsold SUV/crossover vehicles in the U.S. ballooned 12% year-on-year in January, and inventories of sedans have dropped 16%, The Wall Street Journal reports.

One result: Sales incentives for SUVs have crept up to an average of nearly $4,000 per vehicle, while discounts on sedans are down 8% to about $3,800 per unit.

The shift reflects the continuing change in consumer preferences toward SUV. Last year sales of traditional cars in the U.S. fell 13% to 5.4 million units. Deliveries of SUVs and light-duty trucks climbed 8% to 12 million.

For buyers, that means great deals on sedans are waning, as carmaker scramble to pump up sales of more profitable SUV/crossovers, experts tell the Journal. They add that lease options on SUVs also are more attractive than those for sedans, in part because resale values on the latter vehicle types are dropping faster.