Will UAW strike mean fewer cars on MS lots? See here

Just when Mississippi’s auto dealers thought they were beginning to come out from under the effects of a supply-chain shortage related to the COVID-19 pandemic, workers associated with the United Auto Workers went on strike.

Now, dealers not only throughout the nation, but also specifically in Mississippi, are left to wonder if they can get sufficient new cars to meet the demands of their customers.

“It’s not going to take much (time from the strike) to affect our dealers,” said Marty Milstead, president of the Mississippi Automobile Dealers Association. “Our dealers already don’t have enough inventory to meet the demand now. So, anything that extends the strike is going to be significant.”

According to Milstead, all dealerships in Mississippi are working with 50 to 60% of the inventory they would like to have and that has been going up in recent months as supply-chain issues have eased.

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However, the UAW strike against the automotive companies known as the “Detroit Three,” which includes General Motors, Ford and Stellantis (which owns the Jeep, Ram, Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat brands), could hurt Mississippi dealerships disproportionately.

While Milstead said he didn’t have an exact number, the overwhelming majority of dealerships in Mississippi are “Detroit Three” dealerships.

“As soon as production is impacted, it wouldn’t take long to take a bite out of what cars are on the lots,” Milstead said. “And it looks like if they don’t make some significant advances on the talks, those in charge are talking about additional strikes on Friday. So, from the dealer side, we are very concerned about it.”

Milstead shared a story from the middle of the supply-chain crisis when a customer he is familiar with was looking for a new GMC Yukon. That particular week, there were only three new Yukons in all of Mississippi.

“That’s what we are looking at now,” Milstead said. “With the strain already on the inventory, you can see where this is going and can go very quickly. Now, this could be different because it might now impact the Nissan and Toyota dealerships. But we just don’t know what to expect. If this thing goes on for a long time, there is no predicting what could happen.”

Milstead is hoping the UAW and the Detroit Three can come to some middle ground to end this strike before too much damage is done.

Currently, the workers are asking for, among other things, a 40% wage increase over the life of the contract. The 40% signifies the increase in CEO salaries. To this point, a wage increase of 20% has been offered.

“At some point, the consumer has something to say about this in the long run,” Milstead said. “Vehicles are already expensive and if you are baking more expense into the process, what are consumers willing to pay? I don’t know. There doesn’t appear to be many good options.”

Between now and any potential deal reached, Milstead said he is “watching, waiting and hoping. That’s all we can do right now.”

Ross Reily can be reached by email at rreily@gannett.com or 601-573-2952. You can follow him on Twitter @GreenOkra1.