The way I think about it, FWIW, when a builder agrees to build a car at a set price, the builder needs to make some assumptions about the future costs of materials that are not yet in inventory, subcontracted work not yet contracted, and labor and overhead costs over the life of the build.
If a car can be built in 4 months, future cost estimates carry relatively low risk (I assume). When lead times increase to 12 months (or longer!), the risk increases. This is certainly true now as it appears inflation may be heating up. So perhaps part of the price increase is a simple assumption the builder is making about escalating future costs. Sure supply and demand may allow the builder to charge a premium, but I don’t think that explains all of the increases we’re seeing.
To say more about labor, consider how many industries are struggling to hire sufficient workforce. Supply/demand rule suggests future wages may need to increase, which raises builder’s future cost, and clearly a builder who likes to stay in the black needs to pass these escalating costs to the consumer.
Hand-built cars folks. Let’s just hope the demand is there when any of us are ready to sell.
Jon