Business View Magazine March 2023

12 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 10, ISSUE 3 • Used on-lot commercial inventory per dealer continued to skyrocket, reaching an all-time high for the past three years in Q4 2022 and marking a 144% increase over Q4 2021. • The increasing availability of new work trucks and vans is having an effect on used vehicle sales and pricing. For example, while the average price of a new CV reached an all-time high of $53,162 in Q4 of 2022, the average price of a used CV declined in both Q3 and Q4 of 2022, representing an 8.3% drop from Q2 2022. Reviewing DTT data revealed intriguing points. • Average DTT for used work vans and trucks actually increased mildly in 2022, suggesting that the higher mileage of the vehicles, coupled with slowly returning new inventory, likely meant buyers were attempting to hold out for new CVs when possible. • Given that online buyers searched for new vehicles 19% of the time in Q1 2021, compared to 34% of the time in Q4 2022, the data appears to corroborate prospective buyers’ interest in new commercial vehicles. “Analysis of 2021 through 2022 showed a consistent trend in searches for new and used vehicles,” said Aaron Johnson, CEO of Work Truck Solutions. “Although searches for used commercial vehicles outweighed that of new in every quarter, searches for new CVs trended up, while searches for used trended down. Clearly, the desire for new vehicles has not been washed away amidst inventory concerns; if anything, it has increased.” Overlaying the increase in dealers’ new on-lot CV inventory with the reduced DTT— average DTT for new commercial vehicles was down 16% Q4 2022 compared to Q1 2022, and down a whopping 48% Q4 2022 versus Q4 2020 — suggests that preorder sales are finally being fulfilled. Even though more new vehicles are arriving on dealers’ lots, they are moving faster than ever—likely pre-sold and sent out to be upfitted for immediate duty. This is a trend that will likely continue in 2023. “The automotive supply chain has undergone massive changes in the last 24 months,” continued Johnson. “When new-vehicle inventory dried up, dealers needed a way to attract prospects beyond having a large inventory of work trucks and vans on their lot. Plus OEMs have been pushing dealers to focus on preorders. That means our tools CV Showroom and EZ Order, introduced over the last two years to help our customers, are becoming top solutions for dealerships to fulfill their buyers’ needs — and make more sales.” Johnson wrapped up his comments by saying, “Heading into 2023, we expect a combination of preorders and data-decision-driven on-lot inventory to be the way commercial dealers meet business buyer demand, and we look forward to continuing to develop solutions that help our customers take care of their customers.”