Ann’s post on Chrysler’s struggle with inventory turnover highlights the inventory problems the company was facing in late 2006, with many unsold 2006 models at a time of year when automakers should be making room for next year’s models. Chrysler’s days supply was 82 days in 2006, while Toyota’s days supply was a far superior 28 days. Chrysler suffered from poor demand forecasting, which led it to make too much inventory for a low demand.

Curious about how Chrysler is doing now, I found a graph of its more recent days supply data from its third quarter financial report. From this graph, it appears that its average days supply is in the high 60s for 2011 so far.

I also wondered about how Toyota is now performing. According to its 2011 financial report, its cost of products sold in 2011 was ¥15,985,78 million, while its inventory of finished goods was ¥715,272 million. This amounts to an inventory turnover of around 22, so if my calculations are correct, its days supply is an incredible 16 days, a highly significant improvement from 2006. Though Chrysler had shortened its days supply over the past five years, perhaps it needs to take a cue from Toyota to improve even more.