2012 Year-End Deals are Still Available as Bargain-Hunting Trend is on the Rise, Reports Edmunds.com
2012 Year-End Deals are Still Available as Bargain-Hunting Trend is on the Rise, Reports Edmunds.com
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — January 24, 2013 — Many car buyers in January were able to secure the same great year-end deals that were available in December, reports Edmunds.com, the premier resource for car shopping and automotive information. According to Edmunds.com's True Cost of Incentives® (TCI®) report, new car incentives in January fell just 0.4 percent from December to an average of $2,372. By comparison, incentives fell 7.2 percent during the same December-to-January period one year ago.
"Car-shoppers will be glad to know that vehicle incentives haven't dipped much from December's year-end deals, as bargain-hunting is on the rise," says Edmunds.com Sr. Analyst Jessica Caldwell. "People are starting to notice their paychecks are less than they were in 2012 because of the payroll tax, and that will make good deals more attractive to anyone in the market."
| Manufacturer | Jan-13 | Dec-12 | Jan-12 | Jan 2013 vs Dec 2012 | Jan 2013 vs Jan 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chrysler | $3,117 | $2,756 | $2,447 | 13.1% | 27.4% |
| Ford | $2,544 | $2,929 | $2,788 | -13.1% | -8.8% |
| GM | $3,655 | $3,347 | $3,171 | 9.2% | 15.3% |
| Honda | $862 | $1,076 | $1,060 | -19.9% | -18.7% |
| Nissan | $2,544 | $2,576 | $2,417 | -1.2% | 5.3% |
| Toyota | $1,769 | $1,912 | $1,426 | -7.5% | 24.1% |
| Industry | $2,372 | $2,381 | $2,141 | -0.4% | 10.8% |
Most notably, General Motors and Chrysler offered higher incentives in January compared to December, up 13.1 percent and 9.2 percent, respectively. Honda and Ford, meanwhile, lowered their incentives more than any other major automaker, with spending down 19.9 percent and 13.1 percent, respectively, month to month. Honda's numbers are especially notable, since its projected average incentive of $862 per vehicle in January would be its lowest single-month average since October 2009.
Shoppers can always find the vehicles with the most compelling deals on Edmunds.com's True Market Value® Deals of the Month page.
Edmunds.com's monthly True Cost of Incentives® (TCI®) report takes into account all automakers' various U.S. incentives programs, including subvented interest rates and lease programs, as well as cash rebates to consumers and dealers. To ensure the greatest possible accuracy, Edmunds.com bases its calculations on sales volume, including the mix of vehicle makes and models for each month, as well as on the proportion of vehicles for which each type of incentive was used.
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