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We explain to you why unprecedented delays in vehicle deliveries are taking place, which ones are the most affected and what is in your power to do against all this.
You’ve looked at marks in record time. You have thrown many numbers against the clock. You have completed a master’s degree in engines (diesel, gasoline, electric, hybrid HEV, MHEV, PHEV, bifuel LPG, CNG…). Job uncertainty, the pandemic and the war in Ukraine do not help to decide. And when you do: delays in the delivery of cars? Here are some tips to ‘accelerate’ your mobility.
And it is that, although registrations remain at historical lows, the lack of supplies has meant that sometimes there is a lack of stock due to specific stoppages in the factories. What can you do? Go directly to an equivalent used… although their prices may even be somewhat higher in exchange for immediate availability? A lease? Give up private transportation?
To answer and take the pulse of the situation, we have contacted the ten manufacturers of the best-selling models of 2021: Seat Arona (21,946 units), Hyundai Tucson (21,258), Dacia Sandero (20,419), Peugeot 2008 (19,426), Toyota Corolla (16,983), Peugeot 3008 (16,812), Seat León (16,691), VW T-Roc (15,988), Citroën C3 (15,948) and Fiat 500 (15,951).
And although everyone acknowledges having suffered the global component crisis, neither the consequences nor the measures taken are being the same. They do coincide in seeking “maximum transparency with the client”, agreeing on waiting times, finishes… To avoid legal problems due to breaches of contract and new delays (since neither of these benefits the parties involved).
The microchip crisis: the other big brake
Before continuing, do you know what the so-called ‘chip crisis’ means? A global shortage of vital elements (especially semiconductors) for the manufacture of goods with electronic components. As you will understand, the automotive sector has been particularly hard hit by this drastic cut in supplies.
And more, at a time when vehicles must mount many electronic components in order to meet the current demanding emissions and safety standards, in order to be marketed and circulated on public roads. In this way, the economic and mobility crisis generated by the pandemic could be considered both a cause and a consequence of the lack of chips.
But without entering into brainy debates, this situation has meant a new and unprecedented brake on car production, distribution and, ultimately, delivery times. And while the situation is expected to normalize, each manufacturer is following different strategies depending on how everything has affected them.
Seat, for example, which last year led sales with cars such as the Arona and the León, is confident that the situation will stabilize in the second half of 2022. But although “the delivery time depends on the model and, above all, of the specifications of the order (equipment), since February there are already units for immediate delivery of Ibiza and Arona, with a fixed equipment and price”.
Again, it is one more strategy “to avoid waiting”. In addition, they have detected “greater cross-selling between new and second-hand vehicles”, so that, “depending on their needs”, the customer also finds “this alternative” in their network of dealers, according to what they explain to us from the Communication department of the Spanish brand.
In the Renault Group, on the other hand, the latter “is not a strategy” for the diamond firm and “the offer of second-hand vehicles in Dacia is very scarce.” As a general strategy for both ranges -in Renault’s they have “an average delivery time of 2.5 months”-, they insist on “total transparency with the customer so that they understand the situation”.
And more specifically, they offer the Up&Go versions – “in which immediate delivery is prioritized” – for the Dacia Duster (in April it will be extended to the Dacia Jogger and other models), as well as the Fast Track project for the Renault Captur, which “ensures that the customer receives his car in less than 30 days”, they explain.
From the Stellantis Group, which in 2021 managed to sneak into the top-ten of best-selling models to the Peugeot 2008 and Peugeot 3008, the Citroën C3 and the Fiat 500 (in fourth, sixth, ninth and tenth positions, respectively), also They advocate “communication and transparency so that each buyer can decide with as much information as possible”.
In the case of Peugeot, they point out that “the deadlines for 2008 and 3008 are beginning to be reduced (it depends on the car, but in some of the range, the wait rises to 3 months) and there is no model in the range that does not get better.” In Citroën they detail other initiatives that they are carrying out: “yes, there are delays in general, but the situation varies every day,” they acknowledge.
“What we are doing is protecting customers who have contracted loyalty products. If when renewing they find themselves unable to have the new vehicle, with the extension of the contracts we allow them to maintain their contracted fee and services, protecting them from a possible delay up to 6 months”, they remember.
Neither of these two French brands plans to strengthen the pre-owned market. And in this they coincide with Volkswagen, another of the benchmarks. “Avoiding self-registration has allowed us to protect our residual values, one of our great assets. Our vehicles are very well positioned in the second-hand market,” they say.
“This strategy is prior to the pandemic and the chips. Some opt for the immediacy of used ones, but in no case do we follow a strategy of increasing prices of pre-owned over new ones,” they say. They have “all their models in stock”, but “if you want a personalized vehicle, the T-Cross, T-Roc (there is immediate delivery) and Taigo take less time than the Tiguan, Touareg and Golf”, they reveal.
From Hyundai they assure that “they are not having major problems with the Tucson or with any other model” and that in case of exceeding the terms of two or three months that they have on average, “they offer another similar one for immediate delivery”. We have also spoken with another of the great best-sellers of the year, which was Toyota, which in January placed models such as the Corolla and C-HR hybrids in the ‘top-10’.
They say that their recipe is to “inform the client of the expected delivery dates depending on the range or the finish that they have reserved”. And that their situation is “advantageous” because “the rise in registration tax has not affected their best-selling models (Yaris, Yaris Cross, Corolla family and C-HR), so they have not been “forced to self-register units to sell as Km 0 or used”.
Renting: a real plan B?
Another of the formulas that has existed for years is renting, a comprehensive pay-per-use service that has recently taken on a decidedly all-inclusive character: for a fixed fee per month (with or without entry, depending on the manufacturers). or the companies that offer it) and with a maximum annual mileage and an agreed number of years (the average is four), you have a new car 24 hours a day.
In addition, with comprehensive insurance, maintenance (reviews, breakdowns, change of wear items such as brakes), replacement vehicle… And when the agreed time expires, you do not have to deal with selling it either (because it is not your property). ), but you simply hand it over, or change it for another and renew the lease.
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It is an option? If they offer it to you, yes. The downside is that since these are new cars, these services have also suffered delays due to lack of supplies. Of course: if you were already this type of client, as you read a few lines ago, the normal thing is that you have priority so as not to incur in cumbersome -for both parties- legal problems due to breaches of contract… and in more delays!
Finally, in addition to assessing a renting or a used one or the subscription (Lynk&Co, for example), it contemplates rentals with a driver (taxis, VTC…) or without them (car-sharing…) per km, days, weeks or months. They are not designed to replace your own car, but while you wait for yours they could solve your ballot…
Conclution
Some have increased the stock of their most demanded models, but with closed equipment packages in exchange for immediacy. The sector trusts that the situation will normalize from the second half of 2022. And in the event that the manufacturer does not meet the delivery within the terms in which it has promised, you could go to court for breach of contract
The fact is that before the war in Ukraine, due to Covid and the chips, we were already living (and continue to live) an unprecedented moment: even with money in your pocket, sometimes it is not enough to buy the new car you wanted in a reasonable period of time. . So while things get better, be flexible with colors and equipment, do a good job of researching the conditions and explore other alternatives.
