Despite slight rebound, car dealerships still feeling impact of supply shortages

STAUNTON, Va. (WHSV) - During the pandemic, automotive manufacturing and supply chains were hit with shortages forcing manufacturers to cut down production.

Despite a slight rebound, like many dealerships around the country and the state, those in the Shenandoah Valley are still facing some challenges.

“Supply chain issues are starting to alleviate a little bit more we’re still having some problems with control modules stuff that has to do with chips, computer chips,” Eric Obaugh of Charlie Obaugh Auto group said.

Obaugh says although 2022 saw a low inventory of new vehicles things started to improve at the end of the year and continue to do so.

These challenges were also helped out in 2022 by the record-high pricing of used vehicles, and other areas of the business.

“Service and parts actually were one of our better years that we’ve had in the existence of our store which has been open for 47 years, so we’re seeing people that are fixing their cars,” Obaugh said.

Cox Automotive, a research firm that tracks industry pricing and inventory estimates the supply of new cars has increased 83% from this time last year.

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