Dealer Inventory Days Supply by Brand: What the 82-Day Average Hides

Published October 27, 2026

Dealer inventory days supply by brand reveals a split market hiding behind one national number. Toyota sits at 35 days. Lexus sits at 41. Jeep, Dodge and Ram each carry 149 days or more. The national average is 82, according to Automotive News (via CBT News). That gap decides who holds pricing power this quarter and who faces real price pressure.

How does dealer inventory days supply by brand affect pricing power right now?

Dealer inventory days supply by brand sets who negotiates from strength and who negotiates from need. National inventory reached an 82-day supply, above the industry's 75-day target, per CBT News. That number alone tells a dealer almost nothing useful about any single rooftop.

The brand-level number tells the real story. A store sitting on 35 days of Toyota stock has little reason to discount. The next shopper is already lined up for that unit. A store sitting on 149 days of Ram stock pays floorplan interest every day those trucks sit, and shoppers who do their homework know it. Carrying more inventory than the target adds cost, because dealers pay interest on lot inventory through floorplan loans. The pressure to move metal compounds the longer the days supply climbs.

Price reflects that pressure unevenly. The average new-vehicle transaction hit $50,562 in September. That is just $52 below the December 2025 record, according to Kelley Blue Book data cited by CBT News. That average sits on top of brands running 35 days and brands running 149 or more. An individual deal above or below that number usually says more about the brand's inventory position than about the shopper's negotiating skill.

Which brands have the highest and lowest new-vehicle inventory right now?

Toyota and Lexus run the leanest lots in the industry. Jeep, Dodge and Ram carry more than four times the national target. The spread between the two ends of the list, not the 82-day average, is the number worth watching.

Dealers often track the national figure because it's the one that makes headlines. But the brand-level figure is the one that should set next week's budget conversation.

Why does the industry treat 75 days as the inventory target?

The 75-day figure comes from how a dealership actually turns stock, according to CBT News. It breaks down to roughly 60 days on the lot. Add another 15 days on order or in transit. That gives a store enough selection to meet walk-in and online demand without units sitting through multiple sales cycles.

That target isn't fixed. New-vehicle inventory fell to a 75-day supply in July. That was down from a revised 82 days at the start of the month, as sales rose 8.5% from June, per CBT News. A move that size in a single month shows why the brand-level number, not the national average, predicts what happens next.

What should Jeep, Dodge and Ram dealers do with 149+ days of supply?

Expect shoppers to push harder on price. Plan advertising and incentives around that reality instead of fighting it. Floorplan costs keep accumulating until the mix normalizes, so the clock matters here.

• Prioritize the oldest units first, since every extra day adds floorplan interest regardless of what eventually sells.
• Put incentive offers in front of shoppers already cross-shopping the segment rather than waiting for them to find the deal on their own. ActivReach℠'s VIN-verified connected TV (CTV) audiences are built for exactly that kind of targeted push, with a minimum 5X ROI guarantee on the spend.
• Watch for conquest risk from leaner competing brands by tracking which shoppers are cross-shopping both segments. IRIS℠ surfaces that kind of real-time shopping signal across 304M+ consumer profiles and 175M+ VIN-verified vehicle records.
• Align ad spend with the inventory actually on the ground, not the inventory you wish you had. Our piece on advertising execution and inventory alignment covers this in more detail.

How can Toyota and Lexus dealers protect their lean-inventory advantage without losing shoppers to availability?

Lean inventory is a pricing edge. But it has a limit: once a shopper can't find the trim, color or feature combination they want, that edge turns into a lost sale. Dealers at lean brands hold the pricing advantage, but a thin supply raises the risk of missing the exact unit a customer is looking for.

The fix isn't more inventory. It's better targeting of the inventory already in the pipeline, plus more attention to customers already in the database. A Toyota or Lexus store gets more return from retention and reactivation of past customers whose trade timing lines up with what's arriving on the truck, instead of spending acquisition dollars chasing every shopper in the market. MarketBuilder℠ handles acquisition, retention and reactivation across Facebook, Google Ads, YouTube, Bing, Verizon Media and Amazon, starting around $5,500 a month with no annual contracts.

Fixed ops can carry some of that weight too. A shopper who can't get the exact unit they want this month is still a service customer this month. A strong service retention play keeps them in the store until the right unit arrives. LaneDriver℠ is built for that kind of ownership-based retention and reactivation.

How can a dealer find shoppers cross-shopping an overstocked competitor's lot?

A dealer finds those shoppers through VIN-level, geo-targeted data that flags competitor visits in near real time. Guesswork after the deal is gone doesn't work anymore. MobileLync℠ captures competitor shoppers within 24 to 48 hours using polygon-level targeting, cross-device engagement and verified attribution. A store can put an offer in front of a shopper who just walked a Jeep lot before that shopper signs somewhere else.

A conquest strategy for overstocked brands works in both directions. A Toyota or Lexus dealer can use the same signal to catch shoppers frustrated by thin availability at a lean competitor, then bring them in with a unit actually on the lot. A Jeep or Ram dealer can use it to catch shoppers price-shopping a leaner brand and counter with an incentive before the deal closes elsewhere. In our work with dealers across both ends of this spread, the stores that win are the ones that treat the days supply gap as a conquest map, not just an inventory report.

What this means for your dealership

Start with your own brand's days supply. Then check your closest cross-shopped competitors. That single comparison tells you whether your next move is pricing discipline, inventory movement or conquest targeting.

• If you're at 100+ days: treat every extra day as a cost, move incentive dollars toward the oldest units, and use conquest targeting to find shoppers before a leaner competitor does.
• If you're under 50 days: protect your pricing, but put real budget into retention and reactivation so you're not chasing every shopper in the market with a thin lot.
• Either way, stop managing to the national average. Pull your dealer inventory days supply by brand and by market, and build next quarter's media plan around what it actually says. Drivonic's free marketing intelligence report breaks that down market by market.

Frequently asked questions

How does days supply affect a dealer's pricing power right now?

Lean brands like Toyota and Lexus give dealers more room to hold price. Overstocked brands like Jeep, Dodge and Ram face shoppers who know the lot is full and negotiate accordingly.

Which brands have the highest and lowest new-vehicle inventory right now?

Toyota (35 days) and Lexus (41 days) run the leanest. Jeep, Dodge and Ram each sit at 149 days or more against a national average of 82.

What should Jeep, Dodge and Ram dealers do with 149+ days of supply?

Move the oldest units first, put incentive offers in front of in-market shoppers with targeted media, and watch for conquest risk from leaner competing brands.

How can Toyota and Lexus dealers use their lean-inventory advantage without losing shoppers to availability?

Shift budget toward retention and reactivation of existing customers. Match incoming allocation to known demand instead of chasing every shopper in the market with a thin lot.

Why does the industry treat 75 days as the inventory target?

It reflects roughly 60 days of units on the lot plus 15 days on order or in transit, enough selection to meet demand without carrying units through multiple sales cycles.

How can a dealer find shoppers cross-shopping an overstocked competitor's lot?

Geo-targeted, VIN-level data can flag a competitor visit within 24 to 48 hours, giving a dealer time to present an offer before that shopper closes a deal elsewhere.

See what IRIS℠ knows about your market: schedule a look at your local data today.