In one of the most remarkable barometers of what COVID-19 has done to the U.S. economy and auto industry, Subaru — which for years has run the leanest inventory in the industry — began April with a whopping 34 percent more vehicles on hand than it had a month earlier, representing double the days' supply it had at the beginning of March.
Limited inventory data was available after several automakers switched to quarterly reporting. Honda, Hyundai-Kia, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Subaru, Toyota and Volvo are the only manufacturers for whom inventory data remains available. Each of those reported dramatic increases in days' supply, in large part because of the collapse of auto sales in March during the pandemic.
Subaru began April with 98,100 vehicles in inventory, its highest total in two years. That represented a 75-day supply this month, compared with 44 days when it had roughly the same inventory number in March 2018.
Industry analysts at Edmunds, which has access to transaction-level data across all brands, said the industry's average days' supply rose to 95 days, up 26 days from a month earlier.
