Kommor said, in particular, there have been fewer vehicles that are no more than 3 years old on the market.
Edmunds, the third-party shopping site, said that’s “due to disruptions in rental car agency replacement purchases and leasing life cycle shifts.”
Edmunds said dealers were stocking a greater percentage of newer used vehicles four years ago, with those models accounting for 58 percent of their sales in the second quarter of 2019. That figure decreased to 49 percent this year.
Joseph Yoon, consumer insights analyst for Edmunds, said the used-vehicle arena is still feeling the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Consumers held off on purchasing cars in 2020, but Yoon said that pent-up demand was unleashed in 2021 and 2022.
“There weren’t enough cars to sell for all the people that needed the cars,” Yoon told Automotive News. “And so when that happened, all the people that were like, ‘Well, if the new-car lot is empty, I’m going to go to the used-car lot,’ so they bought all the used cars as well and that inventory situation hasn’t really recovered completely.”
Stellantis is serving its dealers well by providing this platform to showcase and increase revenue from CPO inventory, Yoon said.
“I think that’s a smart thing for them, especially because nobody wants to go to a shady dealership to buy their used car,” Yoon said. “If they can tell their customers, ‘Hey, we’re going through some challenges with the supply and inventory right now, we know the market is changing and we know the market has shifted, largely not in your favor. But come shop with us anyway. We’ll try to find you the car that will meet your budget.’ ”