How Can Shreveport Area New Car Dealers Survive the Shortage?

Mark Hebert, President of the Shreveport - Bossier New Car Dealers Association, talks about the computer chip shortage and how local dealers are coping with limited inventory.

"It's easy to find a parking spot these days, that's for sure," Hebert jokes, "It's a challenge for all of us. Every manufacturer is dealing with the global chip shortage and it's making an impact and it is making an impact on dealers lots, for sure."

But why a worldwide chip shortage? And why does it seem the US auto industry is the most affected? "We saw a pandemic hit, the plants were shut down, people were working from home and we had a huge demand for things like laptops, TVs and other devices, and every manufacturer uses these same chips. And the demand now is so great."

Here's everything Hebert told KEEL listeners about the auto situation:

"The good news is that looks like some of these things are improving. But it's going to take some time for us to build up some inventory. They are building cars. We are getting chips. The supply is not what it needs to be to supply us with an adequate number of cars."

And commenting on the seeming indifference of the Biden administration to the situation, Hebert says, "I try not to get into those politics. But at some point you've got to start using some common sense. We've got to bring production back here to the US and take care of ourselves..

"We've tried to increase our used car supply so that we have products to sell. We're trying to figure out ways to survive and keep our people employed and make sure they can make a decent living."