Bottlenecks lengthen delivery times
These bottlenecks cause delays in moving models to dealerships and consequently lengthen delivery times for customers who must wait up to four months for a new vehicle.
“How can it be that in 2019 we handled between 20% and 30% more volume and the transfer times from the ports to the agency were five days, ten at the most, and that today it takes me 15 days to 20 days with less volume?” Escobedo explained.
To reduce the unloading times of the units, Mitsubishi has negotiated with new logistics operators and has anticipated the demand for vehicles. Chinese brands are also already taking orders in advance.
“It is increasingly difficult to get spaces on Asian ships, because a large part of vehicle imports comes from there. In order not to have problems, we had to make a detailed plan of what cars I was going to need between now and next year and we prepaid spaces to ensure competitive rates”, details Daniel Nava, vice president of operations at MG México.
This year, the saturation in the ports adds to the shortage of chips that has lasted two years, the increase in energy prices due to the war between Russia and Ukraine, and the temporary closure of auto parts plants, mainly in Asia, due to new covid outbreaks.
“Before the pandemic, you knew perfectly well when a car would arrive and when you could deliver it. But today the dates change. It’s crazy. We have clients who are going to buy an iX for almost 2 million pesos and I don’t know how to tell them the exact delivery date of their car, when three years ago I could”, concluded Escobedo.