US auto inventories hit their highest level since June 2021

According to Cox Automotive and the Center for Automotive News Research and Data, the sales slowdown helped inventory levels recover further to 1.32 million vehicles in September, well above the level of a year earlier but still low.

Cox said the figure — the highest since June 2021 — represents a 42-day supply, based on the past 30 days’ sell rate practice.

That was nearly half a million more cars than last year and about 90,000 more than a month ago.

But inventories remained more than 2 million cars lower than in the same month of 2019 before the pandemic.