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Why are waiting times for new car orders so long?

I would like to purchase a new car and have been looking at the current generations of Audi Q5 and Volvo XC60. I have been quoted lead times of seven and nine months, respectively, for new factory orders. These both seem long. By contrast my sister, who lives in Germany, has been quoted a three month lead time on a new factory order Jaguar F-Pace.

Do these long lead times seem normal? Are the dealers trying to use up their current stock rather than wanting to take a new factor order? Or does this have something to do with manufactuers delaying production while they ensure that new cars will comply with the WLTP emissions tests coming into force in September?

Asked on 12 July 2018 by William Davies-Humphreys

Answered by Honest John
Everything is in a state of flux at the moment due to the imposition of EU6d TEMP / WLTP emissions regs from 1st September 2018 and subsequently RDE emissions regs from September 2019. It has caught a lot of manufacturers out because reducing NOx tends to increase CO2 and if a manufacturer's corporate averaged CO2 exceeds 130g/km over a year the manufacturer gets fined.
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