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My wife just needed to get a new car, and the salesman was complaining that just as demand was starting to increase the chip shortage means they're barely getti

My wife just needed to get a new car, and the salesman was complaining that just as demand was starting to increase the chip shortage means they're barely getting any new ones in stock. And of course the popular models are the ones that are selling out the fastest, meaning people are holding off on purchases because they can't get what they want. My wife's was one of maybe 8 in the entire state that had the features she wanted. Even that one we had to wait about a week because it was in transit from the factory to the dealership, and the other ones in the state were at dealerships a bit further away. I know car salesman don't get a whole lot of sympathy, but they still need to make a living and that industry got hit hard by Covid, and now is getting hit again.

fukmbas 6y ago
Car salesman won't be a job in 20 years
Der_Einzige 6y ago
Car sales have been through the roof this entire pandemic. Car sales people haven't had to listen to customers "negotiate" in over a year (because the answer is always to take the higher than MSRP offer or pound sand since 20 others will) . I couldn't get a single salesperson to budge even 500$ across no less than 10 Lexus dealerships on anything at all. Car sales people are doing the best they have ever done during the pandemic. They don't need your sympathy.
- ineedasername 6y ago
  I don't know where you're getting this impression from, but sales figures do no support your opinion. Sales were down about 15% in 2020, [0] and that was with a normal first quarter and sales inching back up in the 4th quarter. For large parts of 2020 sales were down as much as 40%. Your experience with Lexus dealerships is not generalizable to the whole industry. The economic fallout of 2020 was not evenly distributed, and the only thing your personal experience tells me is that the audience for luxury cars may have had the better end of things last year. [0] https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/wheels/news/2020-truck-suv-car-sales-winners-and-losers/%3famp https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/wheels/news/2020...
  - Der_Einzige 6y ago
    https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a35695042/car-sales-tanked-in-2020-but-dealerships-had-their-most-profitable-year-ever/ https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a35695042/car-sales-tanked... https://www.autonews.com/dealers/dealer-profits-surge-48-record-unique-2020 https://www.autonews.com/dealers/dealer-profits-surge-48-rec... Doesn't matter if net car sales were down - dealerships of all kinds were hitting ALL TIME HIGHS for profits in 2020 everywhere as a result of huge markups brought on by massive demand. So I stand corrected, dealer profits are up, not car sales - point is that car sales people are not in need of our sympathy at this moment.
istjohn 6y ago
There's a dead sibling comment stating that car sales won't be a job in 20 years. I would speculate that sales and other careers that are high-touch and relationship focused are precisely the kind of jobs that will be most resistant to automation.
- musingsole 6y ago
  Yeah, but car sales ain't it. Carvana and similar are such a better experience than dealing with a salesperson whose incentive and words you have to interrogate. I'd wager that salespeople will be needed only for high ticket price, high risk deals where trust is critical in getting the job done. Anything else that can be made transactional will be and the associated sales jobs will be lost.
  - ineedasername 6y ago
    Carvana etc are not full service though. You can't go test drive in advance. Also, dealerships are tightly linked to manufacturers, very similar to other franchises, and the incentives are in the manufacturers' favor for the existing model: there's relatively little profit, especially considering the overhead, in selling the car itself. The profit center is in servicing the cars at the dealership service center: The manufacturer has decent margins on parts and the dealership gets it's money on labor. Dealerships get a little extra in the points they take on financing, and higher margins selling used trade-in cars, but service is the key. That is an extremely tight linkage between manufacturer, sales, financing, and service that will be very difficult to break.
    - pfranz 6y ago
      I've never heard of Carvana, but test drives aren't something we should need dealerships for. Having 1 or 2 cars of each is all you need. Technically a low-end model would be fine, but I can see them only offering the highest end model to upsell features. Then you do what brick-and-mortars have complained about for years and order exactly what you want online. Personally, I think renting a car for a medium term is way better than test driving. It's the Pepsi Challenge problem. If you can buy a new car, drop down a hundred or two to see how your commute works, how easy it is to park at home, etc. Sure, dealerships have a rats-nest relationship that would be hard to untangle. Looking at the history I don't think manufacturers care about them them and you can run a repair shop without it. > service is the key. I get what you mean about certain aspects, but I would not describe the process of buying a car in that way. If you walk in with cash in hand and pointing to a car it will take 4 hours and you will be coerced into paying for something you didn't want.
varispeed 6y ago
I change a car every few years and this year is the time. So while I have been looking at what can I get now, I found that my current car is worth more now than when I bought it used 3 years ago. Crazy...
- rantwasp 6y ago
  I change cars every 10 years. Had the current car for 7 years so probably this chip shortage is not going to impact me.
- giardini 6y ago
  So keep it. Many posters here might be happy to buy your "old" car and drive it another 4-6 years. Do it yourself.
  - varispeed 6y ago
    I'll keep it definitely. At least for another year or two.
  - AnimalMuppet 6y ago
    Or another 10 or 15. Three months ago, I took my car camping in the Mojave Desert. I go on mostly good roads, but I go places that there aren't many people. If my car had broken down, I could have been in some degree of trouble. But it's solid enough that I wasn't worried. This month my car is old enough to qualify for its own driver's license. 16 years old, but it's been bulletproof reliable for all 16 years. The interior isn't thrashed. It still has as much power as ever, or at least as much power as I ever use. It's long since paid for. Why would I replace it?

fukmbas 6y ago

Car salesman won't be a job in 20 years

Der_Einzige 6y ago

Car sales have been through the roof this entire pandemic. Car sales people haven't had to listen to customers "negotiate" in over a year (because the answer is always to take the higher than MSRP offer or pound sand since 20 others will) . I couldn't get a single salesperson to budge even 500$ across no less than 10 Lexus dealerships on anything at all. Car sales people are doing the best they have ever done during the pandemic. They don't need your sympathy.

ineedasername 6y ago
I don't know where you're getting this impression from, but sales figures do no support your opinion. Sales were down about 15% in 2020, [0] and that was with a normal first quarter and sales inching back up in the 4th quarter. For large parts of 2020 sales were down as much as 40%. Your experience with Lexus dealerships is not generalizable to the whole industry. The economic fallout of 2020 was not evenly distributed, and the only thing your personal experience tells me is that the audience for luxury cars may have had the better end of things last year. [0] https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/wheels/news/2020-truck-suv-car-sales-winners-and-losers/%3famp https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/wheels/news/2020...
- Der_Einzige 6y ago
  https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a35695042/car-sales-tanked-in-2020-but-dealerships-had-their-most-profitable-year-ever/ https://www.roadandtrack.com/news/a35695042/car-sales-tanked... https://www.autonews.com/dealers/dealer-profits-surge-48-record-unique-2020 https://www.autonews.com/dealers/dealer-profits-surge-48-rec... Doesn't matter if net car sales were down - dealerships of all kinds were hitting ALL TIME HIGHS for profits in 2020 everywhere as a result of huge markups brought on by massive demand. So I stand corrected, dealer profits are up, not car sales - point is that car sales people are not in need of our sympathy at this moment.

istjohn 6y ago

There's a dead sibling comment stating that car sales won't be a job in 20 years. I would speculate that sales and other careers that are high-touch and relationship focused are precisely the kind of jobs that will be most resistant to automation.

musingsole 6y ago
Yeah, but car sales ain't it. Carvana and similar are such a better experience than dealing with a salesperson whose incentive and words you have to interrogate. I'd wager that salespeople will be needed only for high ticket price, high risk deals where trust is critical in getting the job done. Anything else that can be made transactional will be and the associated sales jobs will be lost.
- ineedasername 6y ago
  Carvana etc are not full service though. You can't go test drive in advance. Also, dealerships are tightly linked to manufacturers, very similar to other franchises, and the incentives are in the manufacturers' favor for the existing model: there's relatively little profit, especially considering the overhead, in selling the car itself. The profit center is in servicing the cars at the dealership service center: The manufacturer has decent margins on parts and the dealership gets it's money on labor. Dealerships get a little extra in the points they take on financing, and higher margins selling used trade-in cars, but service is the key. That is an extremely tight linkage between manufacturer, sales, financing, and service that will be very difficult to break.
  - pfranz 6y ago
    I've never heard of Carvana, but test drives aren't something we should need dealerships for. Having 1 or 2 cars of each is all you need. Technically a low-end model would be fine, but I can see them only offering the highest end model to upsell features. Then you do what brick-and-mortars have complained about for years and order exactly what you want online. Personally, I think renting a car for a medium term is way better than test driving. It's the Pepsi Challenge problem. If you can buy a new car, drop down a hundred or two to see how your commute works, how easy it is to park at home, etc. Sure, dealerships have a rats-nest relationship that would be hard to untangle. Looking at the history I don't think manufacturers care about them them and you can run a repair shop without it. > service is the key. I get what you mean about certain aspects, but I would not describe the process of buying a car in that way. If you walk in with cash in hand and pointing to a car it will take 4 hours and you will be coerced into paying for something you didn't want.

varispeed 6y ago

I change a car every few years and this year is the time. So while I have been looking at what can I get now, I found that my current car is worth more now than when I bought it used 3 years ago. Crazy...

rantwasp 6y ago
I change cars every 10 years. Had the current car for 7 years so probably this chip shortage is not going to impact me.
giardini 6y ago
So keep it. Many posters here might be happy to buy your "old" car and drive it another 4-6 years. Do it yourself.
- varispeed 6y ago
  I'll keep it definitely. At least for another year or two.
- AnimalMuppet 6y ago
  Or another 10 or 15. Three months ago, I took my car camping in the Mojave Desert. I go on mostly good roads, but I go places that there aren't many people. If my car had broken down, I could have been in some degree of trouble. But it's solid enough that I wasn't worried. This month my car is old enough to qualify for its own driver's license. 16 years old, but it's been bulletproof reliable for all 16 years. The interior isn't thrashed. It still has as much power as ever, or at least as much power as I ever use. It's long since paid for. Why would I replace it?