Honda’s June numbers show that sales of some models are up, and some aren’t doing as well. Overall, it looks like supply issues are still affecting this “Big 3” auto maker’s ability to move vehicles in the North American market.
The new report for June shows almost a 25% decrease in sales over June of last year, while some year-to-date metrics show a modest sales increase. As for individual cars, sales for the Honda Civic decreased to the tune of over 30%, along with sales for the Honda Accord, while Honda Fit sales blossomed, up about 20%. As the Honda sales bulletin points out, this is just another illustration of how customers are approaching the dealer’s lot, looking for fuel-efficient, light-weight cars.
The sales figures come at the same time as a new announcement from TrueCar, a company compiling precise auto sales data, that investigates the vehicular tastes of “Generation Y,” also known as today’s 18-27 demographic. TrueCar finds that these younger drivers like Scion, Mitsubishi and Mazda, with Honda ranking in a respectable, if not front-of-the-pack, eighth place. Despite the company’s recent “hoodie ninja” ad campaign, which should be truly annoying to many of these buyers, TrueCar reported that the Honda Civic Si is a big seller with Gen Y, partially because of its customization options.
It’s one thing for one of these Generation Y-ers to pick a car out of a catalog; it’s quite another story when they actually visit the dealership. Many new grads, younger workers and others in the demographic end up extremely disappointed by how far their dollar goes with local car sellers. Car buyers of any age need to know how the system works in order to get good new or used car deals.
Along with picking an MSRP in your price range, as a car buyer, you need to know a few key details. Understand your credit and how it affects your car financing abilities. Compile as big a down payment as you can to decrease the amount of interest you’ll be paying on a car loan. And, know how to get a fair transactional price, which is the actual sale price your dealer will quote, based on “dealer invoice” and other factors. This includes knowing your fair trade-in value, knowing about how inventory and demand affect price, and knowing how to use existing rebates, incentives and giveaways from auto makers to decrease your total cost. Keep watching this space for more on the newest ways to cut down your car financing payments and keep more money when you buy your next car.
