Dealers are desperate for long lead times on new cars because of microchips. In Germany, they have opted for an unusual event, canceling orders with a devastating result in just three months.
It is almost an impossible mission for those interested to buy new cars. The shortage of microchips is revolutionizing the market like never before had been seen before in the vast majority of brands, pointing out two very significant details: one, waiting times are already up to 15 months and two, the production of micro-conductors for the year 2022 is already fully compromised in the vast majority of providersso that situation of long-awaited regularization is very far away.
Plug-in hybrids are the ones that are suffering the most from this crisis, but also traditional combustion ones. Not so much the electric ones as might be expected. In mid-December, we published a study on waiting time considered bearable for the arrival of a new car, estimating six months as a more than reasonable period. Today, the Central Association of the German Automobile Trade manages data on the situation after a survey carried out last January, with results as interesting as they are curious.
German dealers are forced to cancel orders
And they are for a completely unusual fact. Are customers who have the right to cancel their order if the vehicle exceeds the deadline established by the dealer, and the brand, for delivery. However, no less than 80% of dealers who have participated in the survey have been forced to cancel customer orders, with an average of 37 units in the last three months. A figure that represents 26,300 cars. If the small distributors that depend on large dealers throughout the Teutonic country are also included, the figure is truly scandalous, with 430,000 vehicles ordered and canceled.
Thomas Peckruhn, Vice President of the ZDK, acknowledges that this is a serious problem for dealers, because they only have two options if the customer cancels an order: cancel it at the factory or wait for its receipt and try to sell it by your own means, either as a special offer or as a self-registration. They have no other way, since the vehicle is not paid for until it arrives and delivery will not take place, so Until then, it cannot be said that it is sold..
Peckruhn asks himself the same big question that many customers ask themselves over and over again. Despite the fact that the crisis is not a direct responsibility of the manufacturers – what more would they like than to be manufacturing units at close range and cutting delivery times – it is worth asking if the manufacturers should have been the first to not accept orders that they cannot satisfy. Logic invites us to think along these lines, but the truth is that brands ignore the fact that even every order contains a legally binding contract, which they cannot fulfill.
Peckruhn points out that “The real, and important, bill is passed on to dealers, even down to customer satisfaction, which can be affected.” The manager of the association has also stated that up to 708 dealers consulted in the survey have highlighted a significant fact: manufacturers have not provided aid or compensation to dealers for delays. The big problem is that this massive drop in new car registrations, of up to one million less in 2021 compared to before 2019will not stop and will increase, at least for two more years.