TrueCar.com, a major source for auto sales news, has released numbers for June that show prices still rising for new cars in June, while incentive spending by auto makers mostly stayed the same or decreased slightly.
In terms of what customers are now paying for a new car, TrueCar’s numbers, which are taken from actual transactional prices at dealerships, showed that prices have come up an average of $244 or just under 1% from May to June. Vehicles from three auto makers, Chrysler, Hyundai, and Nissan, experienced price hikes of over 1% from May, with industry-wide rises of 2-5% in year-over-year figures.
When it comes to incentive spending, the results were not as close. The kinds of visual results presented by TrueCar in handy graph form shows consumers where the deals are and which auto makers are spending more money on wooing customers. June’s report showed most auto makers reducing incentive spending, while Japanese companies Toyota and Nissan both increased their incentives by 9 and 8 percent respectively, up from May’s offers. Honda (and Acura) raised incentive spending by about 4.5%.
For those who scour the news from sources like TrueCar before going to the lot, the takeaway seems to be that it’s a good time to seek local deals for a Toyota or Nissan vehicle. Of course, this sort of offer varies according to local inventory and other factors, but customers who sniff out rebates and other incentives can find they can get a new vehicle without quite as much of a massive debt. Cut your bill down even more by doing good research on financing. Know your credit score and where you stand in the market, as well as the most recent financing rates, another type of incentive offered by manufacturers to drive sales. Get good financing agreements that won’t bleed your wallet, and look critically at any extra costs that the dealer or other lenders might want to fold into your monthly payment. Frugality is a must in the modern car deal, and current market news can help point you toward a good starting position.
