The latest monthly CDK Global Ease of Purchase survey shows that consumers who found their desired vehicle model in stock at a dealer in November rose month-over-month from 44% to 49%.
The finding points to recently eased vehicle inventories after nearly three years of tight supply due to pandemic-caused parts scarcities.
The CDK “scorecard” also found that the percentage of car shoppers who said that securing their desired vehicle came easy increased from 68% to 71%. Still, that part of the car-buying process remained the hardest for 27% of surveyed consumers, pointing to still limited supply.
But with easing inventories, surveyed shoppers who visited three or more dealerships fell from 29% to 24%. And those visiting only one dealership rose from 46% to 49%.
Even with the improvements reflected in the survey, the overall Ease of Purchase score in November fell two points month-over-month to 82%, attributed to big drops in finance-and-insurance and deliveries.
CDK, an auto retail software provider, introduced the scorecard in October as a snapshot of the vehicle purchase process at dealerships, polling more than 1,000 U.S. consumers on their experience.
