Wmc, you say demand outstrips supply, yet during the height of covid, the press were showing drone shots of airfields and ports that were full of unsold cars, and brands asking for government help to save them. Yes 7 months if you want a MB CLA, but where have all the cars in fields gone.
If they were in a field, they would have already been sold. They do not make cars to sit in a field anymore, that stopped after the last global financial crisis. Most every car sold now is manufactured after the order is confirmed, there are some built for predicted demand but not many.