What Happens to All Unsold New Cars?

By Staff WriterLast Updated March 31, 2020

While there are unsold new cars every year, most are stored at designated storage areas before later being sold at market at below-market price. Car production is based on projected demand, and, as of 2014, the only year when large quantities of unsold cars were stocked was 2009.

New cars that have just been produced are also stored in large numbers in storage areas or export facilities, such as Avonmouth or the Port of Baltimore. Manufacturers also typically store anywhere between 60 to 65 days of stock on-hand to meet the predicted demand. As the average age of cars on the road increases, unsold new car stock inevitably varies from year to year.