Market Transformation from Supply Constraints to Competition
The bus industry experienced dramatic upheaval due to COVID supply chain disruptions. Pre-COVID lead times were 3 months; post-COVID they extended to 18 months with severe supply constraints. This transformed dealers into "order takers" with healthy margins, but the market is now normalizing with increased competition and impending margin pressure. MBS and other dealers benefited from an unusually favorable market position but must now adapt to increased competition, inventory availability, and margin compression. The shift requires developing value propositions beyond product availability as customers regain purchasing options.
The bus market is normalising after COVID-era supply scarcity. As inventory returns and competition heats up, MBS must compete on value — not availability — for the first time in years.
Verbatims
“the dealers were in a very enviable position where they were essentially order takers, right? Because there was so much demand, not enough supply”
“it is starting to ease up now where you're seeing dealers have inventory and start having to compete against each other again”
“how does Midwest create value outside of just having a bus, right? because for the last couple years if you had a bus, you had the sale”