File - The sticker price is displayed in the window of an unsold 2023 Navigator sports-utility vehicle at a Lincoln dealership on June 18, 2023, in Englewood, Colo. The strike by auto workers is almost certain to lead to higher prices for car buyers; it's only a matter of whether panic buying will make dealer lots look empty sooner than analysts expect.
The UAW began striking at factories that make only a few vehicles – Ford Broncos and Rangers, Jeep Wranglers, Chevrolet mid-size pickups and GMC vans. Dealers have good inventories of those. As cars from Ford, GM and Stellantis, the successor to Fiat Chrysler, become harder to find, there will be a ripple effect. Consumers who need a vehicle would likely turn to nonunion competitors like Toyota, Honda and Tesla, who would be able to charge them more.
High rates are contributing to a spike in rejections for consumers looking to buy a ride. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said this month that thefor auto loans is now 14.2%, the highest since the bank started tracking figures in 2013 and up from 9.1% six months ago.