ZeroSum has released its April State of the Dealer report. ZeroSum is an automotive retail agency that provides inventory-based digital marketing solutions tailored to dealers.
The report notes new vehicle inventory levels continue to climb, edging up by 3% on a month-over-month basis. But the overriding story from March is the vehicle movement picture, which hit its highest count in almost three years. A 28% MoM jump puts this figure at 1.25M, the most since May 2021.
The forecast for April shows a small decline back down to 1.20M, which is still substantially higher than the range that has been in place for more than a year. Underlying metrics still point to stable dynamics on other fronts, with days-to-move and average pricing staying within recent ranges.
“Rising inventories have led dealers and OEMs to be more aggressive with incentives and transaction prices, this is leading consumers back into the market,” said Jeff Englishmen, vice president of dealer success at ZeroSum. “Stubbornly high interest rates may put the brakes on how far this can go, and it is likely that there will be some volatility in balancing supply and demand in the short term.”
Used vehicle inventories declined by 4% on a month-over-month basis, falling below 1.9M for the first time since October 2023. The cause of this decline is the rapid increase in used vehicle movement in March—which was up by 17% from February’s results to 1.44M. This number is forecast to fall back in April, but is also estimated to be above its recent range.
Average marketed price rose for the first time since May 2023.
“Similar to new vehicles, used vehicles had a very strong showing in March after the seasonal rebound experienced in February,” said Englishmen. “A second month of growth points to a more sustained trend, though it is expected that the rise will not necessarily be a straight line upward.”
ZeroSum serves as a crucial resource for automotive dealers, offering indispensable data on supply and demand trends and delivering unprecedented insights on inventory and 30-day forecasts on vehicle movement.
Click here to download ZeroSum’s April State of the Dealer Report
