| Incentives will escalate again soon
|
|
| By John Porretto, Associated Press |
11/15/2003 |
|
DETROIT — The debut of 2004 models helped automakers reduce incentives nearly 7 percent last month, but analysts say consumers soon can expect another escalation in bargains as dealers make year-end sales pushes.
The average industry incentive fell to $2,715 a vehicle in October, $202 lower than September, aided by the seasonal shift to new models, according to Autodata Corp.
Merrill Lynch analyst John Casesa said, "We expect to see acceleration of incentives on 2004 models soon."
As a group, General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG’s Chrysler Group lowered incentives by an average of 4.9 percent to $3,625 a vehicle. At the same time, their Asian competitors’ deals averaged $1,212, down 13.5 percent from September. Average European incentives fell 20.5 percent to $1,890 a vehicle.
Led by Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co., Asian automakers reported a 4.3 percent rise in U.S. sales last month and are up 3 percent so far this year. European companies were up 7.6 percent last month and have grown U.S. sales 2 percent so far this year.
By itself, Chrysler actually boosted outlays 9.9 percent, or $339 a vehicle, last month.
"We think the incentives increase by the Chrysler Group, which introduced its 2004 models earlier than its domestic rivals, sets the tone for Big Three incentives as we move into November," Chris Ceraso, an analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston, said in a research report.
When major automakers reported U.S. sales earlier this week, they were generally bullish on prospects for the rest of the year because of improving economic conditions.
|
|
|
