CADA Pres. Tim Jackson on how his dealer members are managing the inventory squeeze

Dealers have had less inventory on their lots which has been a large concern for many. So where do we go from here as we head into a new year and what do dealer associations have to say about it? On today’s show, we are pleased to welcome Tim Jackson, President, and CEO of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association, to walk us through how dealers are faring in his state right now.

We’re living in a new time in automotive says Jackson. He never thought it would be this type of issue with supply chain shortages, resulting in an inventory squeeze. Jackson says, there is a light at the end of the tunnel but we aren’t out of it yet.

Jackson says they experienced something that has never happened before with the Denver Auto Show. That is market demand but no product to fulfill it. Profitability is good for both automakers and auto dealers. At some point, Jackson says we need to get back to a middle ground, where a customer wants a car and the dealer can provide it. Until we get to that, there isn’t a perfect equation in the auto industry.

What we hear from dealers is that it’s causing frustration in the showroom, says Jackson. One of the issues was staffing. He says, there are more new cars unordered through the automakers today than at any time in history. Now you have consumers ordering vehicles. Then, dealers’ lots are empty and now collectively have 3 or 4 million cars unordered across the country. Those components combined may result in 6 to 7 million vehicles unordered, for the first time ever.

In Colorado, they are seeing a lot of people who are headstrong in the movement of electrification. Colorado now ranks as the 5th state in America on electrification. Jackson says it’s a lot faster with growth than what he expected. 2020 through 2021, battery-electric moved from 2.6% of the market to 4.1% of the market.

Jackson says they have a few items on their to-do lists. Their main focus is they want to get up to 50% on EVs. They’re continuing to push hard for electrification.

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