I'm pretty good customer-friends with the guys at Bethesda Porsche, they are making good coin and bank they tell me, it's just all the new cars are pre-sold. They are getting in the same numbers in volume they usually get, just they are all pre-sold except for base Macan 4 cyl. The only ones losing out are the consumer, because there is nothing to walk in and buy, which also means you have almost no negotiating power. For example, they told me they are getting 198 new Porsches in for 2022 (if I recall my numbers right) and 181 are pre-sold. On the high demand cars, they ARE making coin, like GT3 Tourings, GT4RS (they only get one for the whole year) and that's all flexible if you are a repeat customer, or have if you attitude if you come in as a first time customer they stick it to you. They have a lot of flex in ADM's.

I bought a brand new Ford Transit 250 for my business in June 2021. It was the only one left in the Wash DC Metro area and I had to pay full sticker on it, they would not take even $ 100 off. For a commercial truck! They had two guys that came in before me and both refused to pay sticker, so they let them walk. And they would have let me walk for $ 100, too. I acquiesced, because I needed this truck to handle the increased volume, but its the first vehicle I have ever paid full list for. And it was also the last one they were going to get for the rest of the year.




I own a furniture store and the same thing is happening on supply/demand. It's taking 6 to 9 months to get a new sofa or recliner these days and has since Covid began. As an example, I order 30 pieces back in June '21 - all for stock buying what I think people will want - and by January '22 of those 30 I will only have 5 that make it to the floor, the others were all snapped up by customers who didn't want to wait the full time period to get exactly what they want, and are willing to take a difference configuration to get it sooner. In my industry, we don't see anything lightening up for the next 2 years, because the orders coming in are equal to the total production capacity, the factories simply can't catch up. And, the best they can do for speed and efficiency right now is about 75% of what they could produce pre-Covid. Are we making more money? Yes and no. Cash Flow is great, things are sold quickly. Margins are the same, we are not gouging due to availability issues and there are no sale periods. Customers have long memories if they feel they are being taken advantage of, so it's wise not to get greedy and keep a loyal customer base. If anything, making slightly less as freight costs have gone up so much and I am not adding in for that.

Car prices are all over the place. Today on BAT, a '63 Corvette full resto-mod sold for $ 385,000. It's gorgeous, but COME ON. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/19...-corvette-128/ Gated Ferrari 430''s with (true) three pedals have gone up $ 100K in the past 12 months. Even a 20-year-old 360 with has increased $ 50K if it's three pedal. My '21 992S Cab with manual trans is an easy sell for $ 20K more than I paid for it if I wanted to put it on the market. Crazy! Nuts! Who'd have thunk?

I do not see a return to what many call "normal". The dynamics have changed because the labor force has changed across industries, with no evidence that its returning to pre-covid levels and salaries anytime in the future. And with inflation not being corralled, your dollar is worth less every month. For those that insist on waiting it out, I think you will be waiting a very long time.

 

this conversation jumped the shark many posts ago. now you guys are just rehashing old args and violently agreeing with each other.

 

You in the seafood business, too?

Scallops from the Atlantic Ocean are over 55% higher than a year ago, warm water lobster tails have doubled.

 

Haha no no. We were meeting caterers for our wedding and they all said the same thing about crab approaching lobster. Living in Maryland where blue crab is usually everywhere and priced well, we were starting to see it first hand with restaurants charging $80 for crab cakes — at least a 50% increase. Just nuts!