As supply chains began to slowly mend in 2022, automakers poured the limited parts they had available into high-content, high-priced vehicles. High-end trims accounted for about 56 percent of inventory at the end of 2022, compared with 40 percent in 2021 and 17 percent in 2020.
“That’s a business decision to be made and a financial decision to be made but there are consumer-oriented repercussions to that, and I think that that’s where there are still lessons to be learned,” Wainschel said. “As they get more parts flowing in, [automakers] are looking to balance out their trim mix toward the middle and lower end of production to better meet the needs of consumers and not price them out of the market.”
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