Chicago dealers like Napleton are enjoying sweet margins but also staring into an abyss. New car inventories are dwindling because of the national shortage of semiconductor chips that has slowed factory production. Dealers usually can count on automakers replacing all the vehicles they sell, but currently they’re getting only 20 to 25 percent replenishment. That has them scrambling to buy cars wherever they can get them—at dealer auctions, from trade-ins or expiring leases.
“Prices are going sky high,” says dealer Bill Haggerty, owner of Haggerty Buick and GMC in Villa Park. “It’s like buying the last gallon of milk at the grocery store. You’d pay more than it’s worth just to have it.”