Waiting times biblical, frozen prices in the hope of keeping an affordable figure, order books full but unfulfilled, dealers forced to make proposals with lead feet. Today the car market in Italy, and in other European countries, is like this: deliveries are latenew cars are struggling to be produced at a good pace and the data on registrations and sales suffer heavily.
Where does this crisis come from? First of all, it must be remembered that car manufacturers have not exactly experienced a peaceful three-year period in terms of industrial activity. Before the Covidthen the shortage of semiconductors arriving from Asia, now there war in Ukraine. All these problems, of a health and geopolitical nature, have clearly slowed down production. Brands with a not too high level of technology fared a little better and, on the other side of the spectrum, extra-luxury car manufacturers. But, more or less, each car group has had its pains to suffer.
When a new car is purchasedfew customers are able to obtain it within the pre-established times. Some brands estimate four to six months, on average, to obtain the vehicle. But it can easily go up to 10 months and almost a year for some highly sought-after cars in the premium segment. There are some car manufacturers that are even unlikely to make projections, keeping the communication channel open in order to promptly notify its customers of any delays. The most optimistic announce only three months of waiting, provided, however, that the factories do not close again for long periods.
Those who need a car immediately, and here is the biggest distortion of the market, go and get a used car. The average prices of second-hand cars are increasing, also to the detriment of the government’s objectives to modernize the car fleet in the wake of incentives. After all, business travelers cannot afford to wait too long, and in this period of generalized price increases being able to have a car available quickly is very important. At that point, even a good number of bookings can turn into a meager collection.
It’s not a good situation for the Houses, but there are those who are ready to bet on a recovery by the end of the yearon the basis of more and more orders. From this period the best planners will be the winnersand in this sense it is necessary to underline the approach of Elon Musk, who – at the cost of a good dose of negative publicity – has postponed the launch of important models such as Cybertruck and Semi in order not to be left behind with the production of cars. current.
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