It’s been quite an eventful year to say the least, with the start of a new recession, ongoing overseas conflicts, inflation through the roof, supply chain issues, and so much more. These issues have severely impacted the auto transport industry, though there have been some positive developments within the industry as well. Here is a quick rundown of the auto transport industry in 2022.
Greatest Year Yet for Electric Cars
One of the biggest world developments in 2022 was the overseas conflict in Ukraine – the conflict’s effects have been felt on a global level, with it impacting most industries in the United States in one way or another. The automotive industry was affected in a major way, with the price of gasoline getting completely out of control.
Studies show that a surge in gas prices directly leads to sharp decline in car sales, with buyers becoming much more likely to purchase small cars or to hold off on buying vehicles entirely. This just thing occurred when the prices of gas skyrocketed – fewer consumers purchased cars, or instead flocked to all-electric alternatives. In fact, EV sales hit an all-time high in 2022, with Q1 sales alone reaching 2 million – 75% increase compared to the first quarter of 2021.
This increased demand of EVs is great as it is certainly helping to pave the way towards an all-electric future, though it’s also significantly increased the prices of said cars as well – and the industry’s still a ways away from becoming zero-emission. But as the 2020s progress, we’ll likely get closer to an all-electric future.
Inventory Shortages Began Catching Up
Another trend that we saw in 2022 was ongoing inventory shortages, which is an issue that’s been plaguing the industry ever since the 2020 pandemic. The semiconductor shortage is nothing new, and is still something that manufacturers are struggling to catch up with more than two years later. As a result, its ramifications are being felt by everyone in the industry, including consumers, manufacturers, and even dealerships.
Combined with rapid inflation, consumers had to pay extra– often above original MSRP for used models– while even dealers were forced to pay more earlier this year for wholesale used vehicles. Again, this was all the result of chip shortages which caused new car manufacturers to grind to a halt.
But as the year went on, manufacturers slowly caught up, by finally increasing the production of new cars. This in turn caused wholesale used car prices to plummet, because of the wider availability of new car inventory. Unfortunately for consumers, the retail prices have either gone up or remained stagnant in most markets. But overall, the supply chain has made for a rather inconsistent year in the automotive industry for dealers, manufacturers, and consumers – but experts believe that prices of vehicles will continue to decline throughout next year, which is fortunate.
A Hard Year for Car Hauling
This year has been particularly rough on car haulers, as major factors like inflation, an economic recession, and the aforementioned increased gas prices are all heavily contributing. Heightened expenses have resulted in decreased income for many, and this has made it more difficult for many haulers to make a living.
As a result, many trucking companies this year saw an increase in car hauler turnover rates. High trucker turnover is nothing new, but these additional factors serve as additional roadblocks that will only make it more difficult for hauling companies to retain employees, unless we see a big change in both the economy and industry.
This issue is neither the fault of truckers nor the trucking industry, but merely circumstantial; while difficult to predict, we hope that 2023 will see improvements for car haulers, and the industry as a whole.
New Technology Is Changing the Industry
On a brighter note, there have been several breakthroughs in automotive technology this year, with everything from all-electric trucks finally hitting the market, to autonomous vehicle technology being applied to car hauling, and even big improvements within digital marketplaces and management systems.
We at Super Dispatch are personally excited about our own platform’s major improvements, with our TMS system getting several major new features added this year including Loads Along the Route, which allows car haulers to find loads within a certain radius of their regular route, GPS tracking, and Single Sign-on. These are just a few of the new features that we launched in 2022, with many more on the way.
If you think that Super Dispatch would be a good fit for your business, then consider trying it for free – try it out today!
