Many businesses, corporations, and organizations struggled at the height of the Covid-19 Pandemic due to significant drops in sales.

But, luckily for the automotive truck industry, this was not the case. In fact, despite the global impact of the pandemic, GM is showing signs of higher demand for their most profitable pickup trucks. This has come with a cost, though. While demand for trucks virtually never changed, supply was drastically affected as a result of the pandemic, which is now causing a nationwide shortage of marketable truck models.

What is Happening?

The supply of GMC’s most popular pickups is at historically low levels. The company has since restarted production after the nationwide shutdown due to Covid-19, but the ramifications have already begun to show themselves.

According to Duncan Aldred, Head of the GMC truck brand, GMC Sierra pickups are lasting, on average, 20 days less on dealer lots, compared to the standard 75-90 days. This is just one indicator that truck models are being sold faster than usual. Some dealerships report that some models are sold even before they reach the lot.

While on the surface this may seem like a good thing, dealers enjoying a higher volume of transactions and more profits, the results can have long-lasting repercussions. Hence GM’s current inventory shortage. This can lead to a strain on dealer operations and even a loss of customers. That would be a major problem for any GMC dealership.

To put things into perspective, J.D. Power reported that on this year’s Labor Day there were approximately 500,000 pickups on dealer lots. That is compared to last year’s Labor Day, in which there were a reported 900,000 pickups on dealer lots. Additionally, Gulf Coast Chevrolet Buick GMC in Texas, America’s top-selling truck market, has 75% of their lot dedicated to pickup trucks. Currently, they are down to 25%, a massive difference considering this is America’s top seller of trucks.

How to Solve the Problem

So what comes next? What are the solutions? There has to be a way for GMC dealerships, and others, to combat this nationwide shortage. For that, dealers must be innovative and think out of the box.

One way that dealers might keep sales going is to push for customers to buy older, used models. Oftentimes, customers are looking for dealers to show them what they want. For dealers selling GMC and Chevy pickups, now might be the perfect time to showcase their fleet of used models.

Now more than ever, dealers may want to broaden their customer base. Typically, customers come to dealers looking to buy new pickups, but sometimes they are content with their current truck and simply need a product or service. With the right marketing tactics, dealers could better showcase their automotive services and sell their products and parts.

The Power of Social Media

And what better way to broaden your customer base, than to employ new marketing tactics, new platforms, and innovative strategies. Social media is a great place to start. Online platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, Tik Tok, Twitter, and Youtube are great places to start. Sure, blogging and posting are essential to getting your voice out there, but using these platforms’ advertisement tools is key.

In an era where the world has been shaken up and everything operates differently, the best businesses, corporations, and organizations adapt and try new things.

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