So far as automakers are concerned, there is a clear danger that EVs could turn, so to speak, into a train wreck.
The number of electric vehicles (EVs) being sold in the U.S. continues to rise, but earlier signs that they may not be selling at the pace determined by the central planners haven’t gone away.
More electric vehicles are being pumped out of car factories than ever before — but some dealers don’t want them.
Electric-car inventory has been piling up on dealership lots this year as companies up their EV production, leading some dealers to say enough is enough. Some are telling automakers they don’t want any more until they can sell what’s sitting, several dealers told Insider.
“We have turned away EV inventory,” said Scott Kunes, the chief operating officer of Kunes Auto and RV Group, which sells Detroit brands as well as Nissan and Mitsubishi in the Midwest. “We need to ensure that we have a good turn on it.”
Automakers are “asking us to make a large investment,” Kunes added, “and we’re just wanting to see some return on that investment.”
Plug-in-vehicle availability is increasing rapidly, a sign the EV-adoption growth curve is about to hit a serious slowdown. A switch from enthusiastic and wealthy early adopters to more apprehensive and budget-minded car shoppers is throwing the electric-car transition for a loop, forcing car companies to change their outlooks and pull back on ambitious EV production goals.
“It’s not just that these vehicles are expensive — which they are. We’re talking about a much more nuanced lifestyle change,” said Sam Fiorani, the vice president of global vehicle forecasting at AutoForecast Solutions. He pointed to differences in the EV ownership experience, including charging and range anxiety, as stoppers for many buyers.
“Nuanced” is one adjective to describe the inconvenience that can be associated with EV ownership.
Insider:
“It’s hard for the average customer to make that leap while spending an extra $10,000,” Fiorani said. . . .
Automakers are shoring up their factories to churn more [EVs] out. But demand isn’t growing at the same pace.
Even with record EV sales month after month, sales are plateauing as automakers try to target buyers beyond the early adopters.
As a result, one East Coast Ford dealer previously told Insider they were only declining allocation of electric cars from the automaker. Another in the Midwest said Lightning orders were piling up uncompleted, leaving those customers with time to pick a different EV. One Hyundai dealer on the West Coast said they were also passing on EV-specific allocation, while another Hyundai dealer told Insider he anticipated having to turn away EVs soon…
In this round of growing pains for the electric-car market, dealers are set up for the most trouble. Car companies are likely to continue churning out the EVs they promised to investors, leaving dealers to figure out how to sell them to a new set of customers.
But the savviest executives will heed this first warning from dealers about where the demand pendulum is swinging, Karl Brauer, an automotive analyst for iSeeCars, previously told Insider.
“Dealers know in real time with real-time feedback what the market is doing,” he said. “They have always acted as the first warning lights on the dash for the automotive industry.”
And yet central planners are still planning to “force” automakers to sell more and more EVs on a schedule unrelated (currently) to consumer demand.
So far as automakers are concerned, there is a clear danger that EVs could turn, so to speak, into a train wreck.