Used, New Inventories Tell Different January Stories

Used-vehicle inventory fell in January as new-vehicle supply grew.

Used sales, though flat year-over-year, rose over December numbers, leading to a 2.5% drop in that segment’s supply over the month to 2.3 million units, though that’s up year-over-year by 7%, Cox Automotive said. Days’ supply stands at 49, down 16% month-over-month but up 1% year-over-year.

Used electric vehicle sales figured in the supply dip, Cox said, eating up some inventory.

Despite the supply decline, the average used-vehicle listing price also fell 4% year-over-year to $25,328, which is still far higher than prepandemic levels, Cox said. It expects used supply to revive later this year.

New Supply Balloons

Meanwhile, slowed new-vehicle sales padded inventory in that segment to its highest level since early in the pandemic.

Days’ supply stood at 80 at the end of January, up 38% year-over-year and the most since June 2020, when it was 83, Cox said. That amounts to 2.6 million units, up a dramatic 50% year-over-year.

The supply bump resulted from January new-vehicle sales falling to a 15 million seasonally adjusted annual rate, which Cox pegged as the lowest SAAR since last March. It blamed a rough winter in many parts of the country, as the average listing price was actually down 1% year-over-year to $47,142.

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