U.S. vehicle inventory remains under 3 million in July

New-vehicle inventory in the U.S. held steady in July under 3 million, though weekly data suggested it briefly crossed that threshold after more than four years, according to Cox Automotive.

Inventory stood at 2.94 million in Cox's latest estimate, largely flat from about 2.96 million vehicles a month earlier. Cox estimated days' supply at more than 100 days, but that number was impacted by the industry's slowed selling rate following the impact of the CDK Global Inc. cyberattacks on dealerships.

A year earlier, inventory levels were about 1 million vehicles lower. Cox estimated that industry inventory levels had crossed 3 million vehicles just as the CDK outage was beginning but retreated afterward.

The lowest days' supply levels were largely dominated by Asian automakers, Cox said. All of Stellantis' mass-market brands had days' supply levels in excess of 150 days, Cox said.

Among the seven automakers reporting monthly sales and inventory, only Hyundai-Kia saw days' supply increase in July from the previous month, according to the Automotive News Research & Data Center, while Toyota Motor North America remained the only automaker among the seven to report less than a one-month supply.

The seven automakers collectively had a 34-day supply of cars and a 47-day supply of light trucks, both down from the previous month, according to the data center.