Good question -- and one we had the Foureyes Data Science Team explore. The short answer is: Demand peaked 9 weeks ago, but after falling, the last 3 weeks have trended up. Quality lead traffic, however, is still trending down.

Let’s get into the details. First, let’s talk about what we’re looking at. I asked our Data Science team to provide a view of weekly lead volumes per dealership. They provided this for 2021 (the blue line), 2020 (the gray line), and 2019 as our last “normal” year (the black line) to assess natural seasonality. 

You can see the peak appears to have come nine weeks ago, trended downward, and then popped back up three weeks ago. And for the first time, we’re starting to see some seasonal consistency when compared against 2019. 2021 is of course higher, but the shape of the lines is becoming more similar. 

This got us thinking about the qualified lead volume, so we isolated the data to only sales-ready leads. Looking at it that way, there is a more consistent downward trajectory since the peak nine weeks ago-- meaning your teams are likely fielding a lot of phone calls, forms, and chats, but the number of sales leads is coming down. Last week’s qualified lead volume was still 26% higher on average than during the same week in 2019, but yes, it is starting to drop.

I’ve heard from a lot of dealerships who are still running lean in sales and need help making sure that their qualified leads never go to waste-- especially as they predict lower lead volumes in the coming weeks. It’s why Foureyes has free tools available for dealers with no strings attached during this time. You can sign up for free or talk to someone on the team for 10 minutes. They’ll get you the help you need to maximize every lead when your inventory is there-- today or 60 days from now.

Despite Memorial Day kicking off summer sales, new auto sales are down 3% MoM as inventory continues to drop. For the first time, franchised dealerships have more used inventory available than new inventory.

Inventory availability trends are something we report on weekly as supply chain disruptions and computer chip shortages have resulted in inventory levels well below seasonal norms.

Looking at the 20+ automotive brands that make up the Foureyes dataset, Jaguar, Land Rover, Chevrolet, Chrysler, and Ford have seen the biggest drop in new inventory YoY. FIAT, Chrysler, Dodge, Volkswagen, and Nissan have seen the biggest drop in used inventory YoY.

To learn more about these insights and explore the data for yourself, visit the interactive inventory dashboard, auto sales dashboard, or other free data resources from Foureyes.

Current inventory shortages have added new complexities to dealership sales. Keep tabs on the latest inventory levels across 18,000 franchise dealerships with a new interactive dashboard from Foureyes.

Looking at the 20+ automotive brands included in the dataset, you can see the ones that have seen the biggest changes over the past year.

By selecting a peak inventory threshold, you can also see which models have seen the steepest decline in inventory size since April 2020.

Any surprises? Visit the dashboard to explore the data in more detail or join us for a free webinar on 5/25 for an in-depth discussion on solving sales challenges with low inventory.

It should come as no surprise that new car sales are up significantly from March 2020 to March 2021, but that doesn’t stop me from celebrating.

After a tumultuous year, we can see exactly how the auto industry rebounded. Nationally we’re seeing a 32% increase in MoM new car sales and 73% increase in YoY new car sales. State-specific increases range from 22% to 133%, with Pennsylvania (133%), New Jersey (109%), and Nevada (105%) showing the largest YoY jumps in new car sales. 

Even with year-over-year inventory levels down 29% nationally, March’s new car sales numbers are the highest we’ve seen so far in 2021. That’s good to see as we head into warmer weather and the busy spring and summer months.

Does this data align with what you’re seeing in your market? How do 2021 sales compare to 2019 and even 2018 numbers at your dealership? Dig into the interactive data from Foureyes to compare specific makes or models and let us know. 

To help you monitor auto sales and compare trends month-over-month and year-over-year, Foureyes released a New Auto Sales Report. Updated monthly in line with sales close dates, use the interactive dataset to explore new vehicle sales and inventory levels over time. Review performance nationally or drill down by brand and state.

This month, we can see that despite year-over-year inventory levels being down -23%, YoY new car sales remain relatively steady.

Monthly New Auto Sales

Monthly Inventory Levels

Visit the dashboard to explore the data and let us know what you think!

Foureyes released its annual Automotive Benchmarks Report. The insights provide an interesting look at buying behavior, inventory availability, and lead management in 2020, including:

• - The average dealer adds 40 new vehicles and 60 used vehicles to their inventory each month.
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• - 2020 inventory levels peaked in April, with a median new inventory of 142 and a used inventory of 107 per dealer.
• - Only 19% of dealerships list price or conditional price for all online inventory.
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• - 3.2% of website visitors convert into leads.

• - The average dealer generates 278 leads each month; however, less than half are actually qualified sales leads.

• - More qualified sales leads come from forms than phone calls.

• - 8.7% of calls from qualified sales leads are missed.

• - 10.6% of website leads (calls + forms + chats) are never logged in the CRM.

You can learn more about the data, dig into 50+ more benchmarks, and download the complete report here.

Things are picking up as we head into the end of the year! Looking at inventory and pricing trends nationwide, as of last week:

- 2021 models make up 32.2% of new in-stock inventory. This time last month, 2021 models made up just 16.5% of new in-stock inventory.

- 2021 models have an advertised discount of 4.1% on average. This time last month, 2021 models had an advertised discount of 2.8% on average.

Digging into advertised discounts on dealership websites from the last week, here’s what we’re seeing by OEM for 2020 and 2021 models. Does this align with what you’re seeing or any surprises? 

Curious to poke around in the data yourself? Foureyes aggregates data from more than 16,500 franchise dealerships nationwide and shares the results in interactive dashboards that include pricing, inventory, and sale insights for the automotive industry. Dashboards are updated weekly. 

There has been so much talk and speculation around low inventory levels, making questions around the model year transition even more important this year. Which brands will get 2021 inventory out faster than everyone else? How will inventory availability affect typical pricing strategies? And how can we use Foureyes data to help OEMs and dealers feel informed and stay competitive as we finish out the summer and look to the end of the year? 

Foureyes recently compiled a new, interactive data set to help answer these questions and more. Looking at May-September data from more than 16,500 franchise dealerships across the country, here’s what we’ve seen so far:

-- As of September 7, 2021 models make up 13% of the new vehicle market; however, different automotive brands have dramatically different levels of 2021 inventory at dealerships.

-- Of the 14 automotive brands in our data set, Kia has the largest amount of in-stock 2021 inventory. 2021 models make up about half of new inventory across Kia dealerships today. Here’s how the rest stack up:

Kia: 49.0%

BMW: 45.1%

Hyundai: 29.0%

Subaru: 27.6%

Toyota: 17.9%

VW: 16.4%

Honda: 14.6%

GM: 12.6%

Mercedes-Benz: 11.1%

Mazda: 10.5%

FCA: 8.1%

JLR: 1.9%

Ford: 0.7%

Nissan: 0.2%

• How do these numbers compare to inventory at your dealership? Do you have 2021 inventory in-stock or are you experiencing delays? Any trends that stand out to you?

Foureyes released a new state-specific data visualization to help you better understand sales trends by metro area, week, and OEM. Explore it here: https://lps.foureyes.io/auto-states-during-covid-19

Similar to the original COVID-19 dashboard and shelter-in-place data, this interactive dashboard enables dealers to understand the effects of novel coronavirus on new and used auto sales. To explore the data, choose a state from the dropdown and hover over the map to review month-over-month sales trends. Double-click or zoom in to see sales performance by ZIP code. Scroll down to review sales performance by metro area, OEM, and week-over week.

Feel free to reach out with any questions. 

Foureyes recently shared an interactive dashboard showing the effects of COVID-19 on new car sales in the U.S. To dive deeper into the state-by-state impact, we’re sharing new data demonstrating the effects of shelter-in-place orders on new and used car sales: https://lps.foureyes.io/auto-sales-shelter-covid-19

Select your state and OEM to understand how your market has been impacted. Toggle between state and over time tabs, and choose ‘new’ or ‘used’ as the condition to drill down even deeper.

Feel free to reach out with any questions. Data will be refreshed weekly.