WKBT
July 27, 2021 5:52 PM
Philip Reed
Posted:
Updated:
July 27, 2021 9:50 PM
The same thing that happened with toilet paper last year — shortages and panic buying — is now happening with cars.
“In my 28 years in the business, I’ve never seen anything like this,” says Oren Weintraub, president of Authority Auto, a concierge car-buying service in the Los Angeles area. Microchip shortages, pent-up demand and a used car market that “is on fire” are driving up prices and fueling a buying frenzy, he says.
Used cars will be pricey for a while, as shortages of new cars today mean fewer used ones down the road. But chip production will ramp up and new-car demand will be sated; the Federal Reserve estimates six to nine months before chip shortages ease and inventories rise. Dealer lots won’t be empty forever.