As you may be are, the automotive industry is running out of chips. The global semiconductor shortage has halted assembly lines around the world, as the long lead time for the tiny silicon chips has slowed production of everything from smartphones and home appliances to driver-assistance systems. Major carmakers, have already announced significant rollbacks in their production, lowering expected revenue for 2021.
The lack of demand for new cars early in covid shut factories and sent home millions of workers, while orders for semiconductors—used in myriad ways, including in fuel-pressure sensors, digital speedometers, and navigation displays—dropped off precipitously.
Data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) shows that new car registrations in June 2021 were 186k, significantly ahead of June 2020 but 40,000 registrations behind June 2019 and June 2018. A major contributing factor has been the lack of semiconductors which has put many leads times to 6 months plus.
So, what does all this mean for the leasing market? Supply of new vehicles into the rental market has fallen sharply. Many of the manufacturers have just announced that they have cancelled supply for September. The market is expected to recover in 2022 with a wider range of vehicles available but, for now, we want to ensure you are fully informed. Here at Jet Vehicle Finance we have a range of vehicles that are available from stock or are in pipe-line production and our team would be happy to keep you informed of these options.
If you have any specific questions about how this may impact you then please do let us know.