Statewide Iowa — New vehicle registrations in Iowa are up 28 percent in the first six months of this year compared to the first half of last year when the pandemic hit.
Bruce Anderson is president of the Iowa Automobile Dealers Association.
The number of vehicles sold in Iowa so far THIS year is 17 percent ABOVE the pre-pandemic level of vehicle sales in the first half of 2019. There are about 300 auto dealerships in Iowa and Anderson says showrooms have turned into empty dancefloors and there’s no longer a sea of cars out in the lots. Anderson says it’s not entirely due to supply chain issues.
Dealers are getting up to 70 percent of the vehicles they normally receive, according to Anderson.
Because of supply and demand issues, there’s been a double-digit increase in the price of USED cars and trucks, too.
The pandemic has accelerated the move to online sales and customer service for Iowa car dealerships, according to Anderson.
About 86-hundred cars and more than 64-thousand pickups and SUVs were sold in Iowa in the first six months of the year. Vehicles that Iowa dealers sold to out-of-state residents are not included in the data.
