Supplyframe Consumer Research Highlights Shifting Car Buying Behaviors, Consumer Sentiment About the Automotive Industry
Ongoing Challenges, Change Signal Need to Improve Supply Chain Transparency, Visibility
Supplyframe today released research indicating that most consumers anticipate negative fallout from supply chain shortages fueled by the pandemic to continue throughout 2022. This same research shows that the limited supply of vehicles due to a lack of available semiconductors and electronic components has adversely impacted the auto industry’s reputation and led to a shift in customer buying behaviors that prompted some U.S. consumers to buy used rather than new cars – or not to buy vehicles at all.
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“Leading original equipment manufacturers in the automotive sector and beyond are beginning to take steps to make sure that happens sooner rather than later.”
The research is based on a recent survey, conducted by Propeller Research on behalf of Supplyframe, of more than 1,000 U.S. consumers ages 18 and older. According to the survey results, nearly a third (32%) of U.S. consumers said that they have been impacted by the automotive chip shortage. Close to half (48.3%) said that the resulting lack of automotive inventory led them to buy a used car instead of a new one. About the same number (48.5%) said that they have noticed an increase in automotive prices amid the pandemic, and more than a fifth (21.8%) said that inflated prices have deterred them from buying a car.
“Due to the pandemic, the automotive industry has faced challenges with production as well as with a changing consumer mindset, as highlighted by this research,” said Supplyframe CEO and founder Steve Flagg. “But even beyond the pandemic, the automotive sector will continue to compete with businesses in other industries such as aerospace, consumer electronics and medical devices for a dwindling supply of semiconductors and electronic components. Having multiple industries sourcing from a shared supply will lead to complications even in the long term. Automakers and companies in these other sectors now need to ask themselves how they can better manage the chip shortage to meet customer demand and allow faster distribution.”
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A Strong Share of U.S. Consumers Are Now Aware of the Global Chip Shortage and Its Impacts
Chip shortages have dominated headlines since early 2020. So, while semiconductor and electronic component supply chain discussions have traditionally been reserved for new product design and procurement professionals at manufacturing companies, the ongoing pain caused by the auto and chip shortages has increased consumer awareness of such matters.
Nearly half (47.5%) of consumers said that they are familiar with the automotive chip shortage. And almost a third (32%) of those surveyed said that they were impacted by this chip shortage. Only 12.9% of U.S. consumers believe that we will finally be back to normal shipping and production times this year. Just over 40% think shortages will decrease slowly in 2022. And nearly half (46.7%) said that they believe the shortages will continue throughout 2022.
