US Ports Awash in Foreign Cars

Masses of unsold imports back up in lots
By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 8, 2008 5:58 AM CST
US Ports Awash in Foreign Cars
Newly imported Mercedes-Benz jam a lot in the California port of Long Beach.   (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

The new car market is so flat that massive numbers of imported vehicles are being warehoused at ports and other available space, Reuters reports. Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen, and other dealers can't take fresh deliveries because their sales lots are jammed with thousands of unsold vehicles. Demand for all categories of vehicles, from luxury sedans to compacts and hybrids, has imploded.

Toyota has leased an additional 23 acres of space and Mercedes-Benz has leased an extra 20 acres to store incoming cars near California's port in Long Beach during the worst car market in 25 years. "They can't move them through their pipeline fast enough," said a port spokesman.
(More auto imports stories.)

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