Semiconductor Chip Shortage Limits Auto Sales in Q3

New vehicle sales dropped in the third quarter due to ongoing supply chain issues and a shortage of semiconductor chips, CNN Business reported.

Compared to the same quarter last year, General Motors sales dropped a third, and Stellantis sales slipped 19%. Toyota Motor sales inched up 1.4% for the quarter, but its September sales dipped 22%. Toyota Motor breaks out monthly sales, unlike GM and Stellantis, CNN Business noted.

The automakers attributed the declines to supply chain issues and the chip shortage, according to the report.

Tesla reported record quarterly worldwide vehicle deliveries but said it too had been affected by these issues, The New York Times reported.

“We would like to thank our customers for their patience as we work through global supply chain and logistics challenges,” the automaker said in a press release.

The shortage of computer chips needed to build vehicles has been affecting the industry for more than a year, according to CNN Business. When auto sales plunged in the early weeks of the pandemic, automakers trimmed orders for chips. Later, when auto sales rebounded, the chips had gone to other customers.

These supply disruptions have been affecting the used vehicle business too. Used car dealership chain CarMax said its inventory was 30% lower than it expected and down 15% year over year, cutting into vehicle availability but not yet impacting the company’s sales.

Read more: CarMax Struggles to Build Inventory as Vehicle Shortage Continues

CarMax President and CEO Bill Nash told analysts on a conference call the issue isn’t CarMax’s ability to acquire cars but rather continued fallout from the impacts of the pandemic. The company typically builds up its inventory early in the year, but it wasn’t able to do that because of disrupted new vehicle production and record sales in the spring.

“It certainly has been a headwind,” Nash said.