Dealer fights shortages

Driving is a part of life in America. Getting a license has become a coming of age milestone in our culture, a marker for how far one has come. Similarly, a person’s first car comes with a similar level of prestige, and when it comes time for young adults to purchase a vehicle on their own, they’ve really grown into a mature adult. A year ago, affairs such as this were uncomplicated. One could simply walk into a dealership, find a new model they liked, and sign the paperwork.

Now, though, when many have had to cut back on so much due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s hard to find a business that hasn’t been affected by the slowing of industry. Dealerships haven’t fared any better than the paper or farming industry.

Mark Hamby, owner and operator of Hamby Automotive Network, says that his business typically keeps 125 new vehicles on their lot. Currently, they have nine new vehicles ready for sale.

“It’s hard to make a living,” Hamby says, “[We have] a lack of sales. It’s hard to sell a new car when you don’t have them.”

To mitigate this, Hamby’s dealership is selling every vehicle in their incoming inventory, making it difficult to build up a stock of vehicles.

“We’ve got a computer chip shortage,” says Hamby. “As of last week, General Motors had over 60 thousand vehicles built. They couldn’t ship because of the computer chips.” Demand for vehicles has remained high, even during the pandemic. But production of vehicles, and the many hundreds of parts that are pieced together to make them, has remained slow.

Unfortunately this is not where the shortages end. “We now have a problem with foam for the seats, there’s a shortage on that. There’s also a rubber shortage,” Hamby informed.

Additionally, Hamby made it known that these shortages are not the only hurdles facing the new car industry. “To top it all off, CSX does not have enough employees to unload the railcars to take the vehicles off of the railcars to get them shipped to the dealers”.

CSX is a railroad transportation company that was established in 1980. They boast 20,000 miles of tracks, and are a nationwide transloading and distributing service.

The new car industry can’t make new parts for their new cars, and when those vehicles are finally built, they can’t be shipped.

Hamby Motors sells new Buick, Chevrolet and GMC models; however, these shortages are not exclusive to these brands. “Ford, as an example, has right at 100,000 vehicles built and cannot ship those because of a computer chip shortage,” Hamby detailed.

Hamby went on to explain that these shortages have been going on for nearly a year – just months shy of the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in America. Now that government regulations are loosening on the industry, Hamby says the plants are having a hard time getting employees for the job.

An unfortunate reality of this issue is that Hamby is not optimistic about any potential change in the near future, stating, “We really don’t see much of a change in 2021.”

HHJ News