Inventories retreat slightly to 1.73 million

New-vehicle inventories pulled back slightly last month, interrupting a string of recoveries that stretched back to summer, but still remain significantly above where the industry was a year ago and far below where it has been historically, according to estimates from Cox Automotive and the Automotive News Research & Data Center.

Cox estimated U.S. inventories at 1,726,828 in its most recent assessment, a 57-day supply, down from the 1,803,717 vehicles, or a 58-day supply, it said were available for sale the previous month. The inventory figure is about 62 percent above where it was a year earlier but was still nearly a million vehicles short of where it was at the same point in 2021, and less than half of where it stood at this point in 2019. Cox attributed the decline to increased sales.

Among the volume segments, supplies were tightest in compact, midsize and subcompact cars, Cox said, and highest among full-size cars, EVs and sports cars.

Of the seven automakers continuing to report monthly sales and inventory, five saw their days’ supply estimates rise last month, including Subaru, which crept back into double digits for the first time since April 2021. Ford Motor Co., which had the highest days’ supply among reporting automakers, remained flat compared with the previous month, while American Honda reported a decline.