2021 has brought many industries and businesses down a peg, and that remains true for the automotive industry.

Craig Dunn, owner and namesake of Craig Dunn Motor City, says ever since the pandemic started, it’s been very hard to get the equipment needed for the vehicles due to various shortages. The materials that they use for the microchips and microprocessors found in cars normally ship from Malaysia, Vietnam, and Taiwan, which have all been hit hard by the pandemic.

“Those factories have been shut down,” explains Dunn. “Packaging plants have been shut down, and of course, ports are shut down. We're reading about that as well, and so getting the material here has been difficult.”

He explains the lack of these materials has made it impossible to build the number of cars needed to fit the demand over the past few years. He notes the industry-wide shortage has hit some manufacturers harder now, while some have rebounded following a shortage toward the beginning of the pandemic.

“We won't see dramatic improvement, we're told by the manufacturers in 2022,” explains Dunn.  “But, we do believe we've seen the bottom of the valley and slowly, incrementally production will ramp up. Many plants are running and but only running at 40, 50 or 60 per cent capacity.”

He says they don’t normally see much of a resupply, as whenever cars do come in, more often than not, they’re all sold within two days. Used cars have also been an issue for Canadian dealerships. Since new vehicles aren’t being bright into circulation, that leads to a stranglehold on the used car industry too.

“Because this shortage exists in the US and the Americans have an advantage, they're coming to Canada and buying up as many use vehicles as possible,” notes Dunn. “So, that's another issue in the Canadian market for the supply of used vehicles.”

Dunn hopes that the pendulum continues to swing back upward and lead to a resurgence in the auto industry.