If you're in the market for a new car you may have noticed higher sticker prices and not many cars available on the lot to choose from.

This is due to the widely reported shortage of micro-chips that cars need to operate properly.

It's yet another problem from the pandemic and there's still a lot of uncertainty as to when those chips will become available.

Michelle Krebs, an Auto Trader executive analyst said, "A LOT OF THE AUTOMAKERS AND THEIR SUPPLIERS TOLD THEIR CHIP SUPPLIERS, WE DON'T NEED ALL THOSE ORDERS BECAUSE WE'RE GOING INTO A RECESSION, AND WHENEVER A RECESSION HITS, CAR SALES FALL... WELL, THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN... CAR SALES WERE REALLY STRONG."

Fast forward to today, The high demand for new cars continues with a lack of supplies to sell them.

New vehicles have record-high prices, and there's no clear end in sight.

SOME EXPERTS say The trends COULD LAST INTO NEXT YEAR AND POSSIBLY even 2023.

The chips to build cars are back in production, but there's a major backlog, and it's not just cars that need them. It's ALL electronics.

"ALL OF THOSE THINGS NEED THOSE MICRIPCHIPS, AND THEY HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THEM TO COME FOR A LONG TIME," said Krebs.

The chips are not made in the U.S. so there are unforeseen factors out of the auto industries' control, like another surge of the virus.

"THERE MAY BE SITUATIONS WHERE CONSUMERS WILL HAVE TO GET USED TO ORDERING ONLINE OR WAIT FOR A VEHICLE TO COME IN AT LEAST FOR A WHILE," said Krebs.

One local car dealer, John Apostalakis of Apostalakis Honda said, "We're feeling the worst of the inventory crisis right now at my dealerships. Buying used vehicles aggressively to keep our quality pre-owned selection as full as it is! We're focusing on our wide variety of used cars until things get back to normal with our new car inventory."