If you are currently looking for a new car, you need a lot of patience. The requested model often cannot be ordered – or the seller receives the order without specifying a delivery date. The reasons are well known: lack of chips, disrupted supply chains, blocked containers and overseas shipping at ports, and the ongoing war in Ukraine.
According to experts, the birth situation should loosen a bit this year. Only: This relaxation will not (yet) have an impact on second-hand prices, which have literally exploded in the last 18 months, especially for younger used cars. Used car prices will hardly drop significantly in 2023.
No Geneva Motor Show again
While the automotive year kicked off in Detroit with the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in early January, the once crucial US trade show has now moved to the hotter summer and has also lost its appeal. The Geneva Motor Show, which heralded the European car year until the Corona pandemic, has also been canceled for this year, and after being canceled four times in a row, it’s definitely history. And so tech geeks and auto fans are now looking to Las Vegas, where the Consumer Electronics Show (CES), which ends today, has become an increasingly popular playground for the auto industry.
The International Motor Show (IAA), which has turned into a real city festival in 2021 despite the Corona regulations, will be held for the second time in Munich in the autumn of this year. On the other hand, the car show called the IAA Summit in Munich-Riem was a fiasco. And the new edition of September is unlikely to be any better. At least in the western world, international motor shows don’t matter anymore. The situation is different with Auto China, which took place in Shanghai in mid-April. After the Chinese corona quarantine is soon fully lifted, the trade fair there could again become a major international event for the first time in three years.
Chinese brands launch in Europe
Speaking of China: the importance of Chinese automakers will increase significantly across Europe this year. Brands like MG, Great Wall, Ora, Wey, Aiways, Nio or Polestar all want to cut a significantly larger share of the car pie from us. In turn, it is becoming more and more difficult with affordable small cars. Electromobility is driving up the prices of such cars, and many manufacturers will thin their offerings accordingly in this and subsequent years.
While the delivery delays in the new car market will likely continue in 2023, at least this year the vehicle range will be more colorful thanks to some brands from the Far East that will enrich our market.