Vehicles in short supply as cars snapped up before tax time

Warrnambool's Marcus Norton from Norton Motor Group and Callaghan Motors dealer principal Steve Callaghan have reported a rush on vehicles ahead of the end of financial year.

The instant asset write-off has led to a flurry of new car buyers. The tax incentive was scheduled to end on June 30 but the federal government extended it until June 30, 2023.

Mr Callaghan said used vehicles, depending on the model and age, were selling for 30 per cent more than they were pre-pandemic due to the shortages.

"Generally stock's hard to get," Mr Callaghan said. "We're not too bad placed with some manufacturers but with others it's hard work. It depends what product someone's after."

He said they had a good drop of Mitsubishis, particularly Tritons which were "selling really quick". "If you look at Ram we're sold out for six months. If you look at caravans it's nine months.

"We began advertising back in February get in now to make sure you secure a vehicle (before June 30)."

Mr Callaghan said factors included COVID-related computer chip issues, lockdowns overseas where components were made and shipping challenges.

He said it was an interesting time and availability would continue to be a challenge. "It's going to go up and down over the next 12 months."

Mr Norton said while it was "terribly hard" when he didn't have certain stock, customers were understanding of the issues.

"We can supply some of the Great Wall because we just got that model, but in Ford I've pretty much sold out of nearly everything to June 30 already. We already know what we're getting (in stock) and we already have names for them.

"Farm machinery is the same, you can't get tractors or whatever else because everyone's ordered it up by June 30. It's all the same with the long lead times.

"We would have loved a lot more stock because we could have sold lots more than we have."

He said it was industry wide and China's latest COVID-19 shutdown had caused further delays because of the number of components it manufactured. "The plants in Europe or Thailand, or wherever the car is built, are just stopping, so that's become an issue for us as well. It's unfortunate but it's the world we're living in."

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