Matthew Kahm, general manager of Shults Auto Group in Jamestown, is pictured last week at Shults Nissan Subaru on Fluvanna Avenue. A global shortage of computer chips has made it difficult for car dealers to receive new inventory at a time many consumers are looking to buy. P-J photos by Eric Tichy

Local car dealerships have not been immune to a global shortage of computer chips that has resulted in fewer vehicle deliveries at a time when more people are looking to buy and hit the open road.

That means the few vehicles coming in are often sold before they even reach the lot.

“Well, we’re seeing new car inventory being dramatically impacted due to the microchip shortage,” said Matthew Kahm, general manager of the Jamestown-based Shults Auto Group. “That has impacted the entire auto industry. It started about four months ago when cars were being built and the inventory of the microchips dried up, reducing the output.”

Kahm has seen cars and trucks being sold at some locations, though not at Shults, well over the sticker price. He said the problem is multi-layered: Demand, aided by consumers having more disposal income coming out of the global pandemic, is at “an all-time high,” he said, as well as the microchip shortage that forced most automakers to cut production.

“Never in my years serving here have I seen new car prices the way they are right now,” said Kahm, who noted barren lots typically filled for the summer rush of consumers. He also has sold several vehicles that have yet to reach the dealership.

According to the Associated Press, automakers sold about 4.43 million vehicles from April through June, a figure 0.4% lower than in 2019, the last normal year before the coronavirus pandemic hit. Despite the big jump from a year ago, there were signs that sales were slowing toward the end of the quarter, mostly because dealers had few vehicles to sell.

But demand is still high as the pandemic wanes and people look to buy vehicles for family road trips.

“Unfortunately the chipset and inventory shortages really came to a head and outstripped supply in June,” said Edmunds.com director of insights Jessica Caldwell. “This isn’t a problem that’s going away anytime soon.”

Brent Doolittle, co-owner of Landmark Chevrolet in Randolph, said “new inventory has just been trickling in, and normally before they get here, they’re sold.” He also attributed the lack of vehicles — something he’s never experienced to this degree in the 40 years he’s been in the business — to the computer chip shortage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic that shuttered factories around the world.

“It’s really hit the auto industry hard,” he said in an interview last week.

Doolittle believes the demand for new and used vehicles is the same; it’s the lack of inventory that has hampered business this spring and summer. “The demand hasn’t gone up, the supply has gone done,” he said. “It’s very frustrating.”

Like Shults, the lot at Landmark Chevrolet has far fewer vehicles. Doolittle said he has 10% of the vehicles he typically would have on hand this time of the year. He doesn’t expect the problem to resolve itself until the spring of next year, when automakers are able to produce more vehicles and eventually ship them to dealers across the country.

“We won’t see any supply until then,” said Doolittle, who noted that he has been getting between one and three new vehicles at a time, not the truckload he is used to.

On a national level, consumers desperate for new vehicles often paid over the sticker price — pushing the average sales price in June above $40,000 for the first time, according to J.D. Power. The Associated Press noted that automakers cut discounts, but still sold vehicles; on average they had enough inventory to supply only 39 days of sales, down from 93 days a year ago, J.D. Power said.

Analysts say the chip shortage will start to ease in the third quarter, but it won’t be gone completely until sometime next year.