CLEVELAND — Great Lakes Honda General Manager Gavin Lake said prices for new 2023 models are coming back down.
“Manufacturer’s suggested retail price: $28,390 dollars,” Lake said.
He said there was a shortage of new cars last year, causing prices to go up.
So instead of just marking up the price of the car, they started installing accessories like a splash guard on vehicles, so customers were getting something in return for a higher price.
“We certainly weren’t a big believer of charging above MSRP for vehicles,” Lake said. “Having pre-installed accessories did allow us to not advertise above MSRP.”
He said one reason for the shortage of vehicles was a shortage of the chips needed to run their computer systems. Lake said inventory was down as much as 35% last year.
“Having a shortage of these specifically will inhibit the car, whether it be their headlights, opening and closing the doors,” Lake said. “There’s a number of things that that BCM module will do.”
Now he said production of the chips has increased, and there are more cars on the lot. He said the lot was much emptier last year, though Honda is one of the most popular cars in America. Caranddriver.com said the Honda CR-V was the sixth most popular car bought in America last year.
“CR-Vs have been probably been Honda’s best-selling compact utility vehicle over the last 10-20 years,” Lake said.
Lake said some people would buy a car without scheduling a test drive, and out of concern, they’d have to wait longer for one to be available at the dealership.
“For those first-time buyers, something we’ve also been able to do is have a great selection of pre-owned inventory,” Lake said. “So if we did not have the new cars, we could show them the pre-owned car and they could still put a deposit on the new car that would be coming.”
Lake said now they have cars meant just for test drives, so even if a car isn’t in stock on the lot, customers can still try one out.
“To have those vehicles physically on the lot and not just put a deposit down on a vehicle you’ve never driven before,” Lake said. “Having those vehicles here does a world of difference for customers.”
Overall, with inventory ramping up, he expects sales to rise as well, and the upcoming Cleveland Auto Show can only help those numbers.
“We will now have choices. We will now have options,” Lake said. “And the customer won’t have to be waiting 60-90 days for vehicles.”
