Buick Dealer Inventory Drops In February 2025

As new vehicle sales caught fire again in February 2025 after a cold-weather January lull, with robust tax refunds helping to drive purchases, the inflated inventory on Buick dealer lots sank notably, though still remaining far above average.

Buick new vehicle inventory dropped to a 123 days supply in February, down from 138 days in January 2025, Cox Automotive information shows, though it is still far above the U.S. auto industry average dealership inventory of an 89 days supply.

Buick inventory has been more than double the 60 days supply of new vehicles that has been considered optimal by all automakers, analysts, and other auto sector players for many years. The lowest point in its dealer backlog in recent months was a dip to a 120 days supply in December 2024 when a surge of consumer confidence drove exceptional year-end sales.

The cutback in Buick inventory almost to this level in February after the standard first-month increase is thanks to several economic factors in play across the whole U.S. auto market. Foremost among these, per Cox analysis, is a remarkably high level of tax refunds to “Main Street USA,” with a 10-percent increase over last year to $102.25 billion in refunds during February.

The typical refund so far this year has been $3,453, a 7-percent jump from the same time in 2024. Another factor may be the seesaw news about U.S. President Donald Trump‘s tariffs. The uncertainty about future car prices could prompt people to buy now as a hedge against future automotive MSRP hikes.

Cox analyst Erin Keating notes that “concerns about future price increases may be driving more customers to the showroom,” but additional factors are also present. Despite surging sales causing days supply to drop, inventory – in terms of absolute numbers of vehicles – grew to 2.99 million units, which, as Keating points out, gives “dealers […] market confidence, and consumers […] plenty of options when choosing a new vehicle.”

Furthermore, yearly bonuses are typically paid at this time of year. And as a final possible boost to Buick sales, cutting into its inventory backlog, is the current popularity of compact crossovers among buyers, with the Buick Encore GX offered as part of this segment.