The average auto manufacturer incentive in the United States was $US2,512 per vehicle sold in December 2004, up $57, or 2.3%, from December 2003, and up $117, or 4.9%, from November 2004.
Go deeper with GlobalData
“As we close the books on 2004, we are confident that we have not seen the end of generous auto incentives,” said Edmunds.com vice president of data analysis Jane Liu. “However, unlike the past’s traditional cash and financing incentives, the future will likely show us more creative offers, like Volkswagen’s new In The Car programme that covers insurance for the new owner’s first year.”
Overall, combined incentives spending for domestic Chrysler, Ford and General Motors nameplates averaged $3,420 per vehicle sold in December, up $41 from November 2004.
Chrysler lowered incentives spending for the third straight month, by $104 to $3,325 per vehicle sold in December, and lost 0.7% market share, falling to 13% of the U.S. market.
Ford also decreased incentives spending for the third straight month, by $217 to an average of $2,924 per vehicle sold in December, while its market share fell by 0.5% to 17.4%.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalDataGM increased incentives spending in December by $269 to $3,789 and its market share increased 2.6% to 27.2%.
In December 2004, Korean automakers increased incentives spending by $26 to $1,853 per vehicle sold, European automakers increased incentives spending by $17 to $1,781 per vehicle sold and Japanese automakers increased incentives spending by $188 to $1,076 per vehicle sold.
These are record highs for import automakers, according to Edmunds.com.
From November to December, Korean, European and Japanese manufacturers lost market share, going from 4.44% to 3.74%, from 7.53% to 7.33% and from 31.5% to 31.0%, respectively. Domestic manufacturers gained market share during that period, rising from 56.3% to 57.6%.
Comparing all brands in December, Mini and Porsche spent virtually nothing on incentives, while Scion spent only $134 per vehicle sold.
At the other end of the spectrum, Lincoln was the biggest spender at $5,419 in December, followed by Cadillac at $4,690 and Pontiac at $4,465 per vehicle sold.
Among vehicle segments, in December, large SUVs continued to offer the highest average incentives, $4,179 per vehicle sold.
Other segments with high incentives were large cars at $3,494 and large trucks at $2,990 per vehicle sold.
Compact cars had the lowest average incentives at $1,391, followed by sports cars at $1,782 and luxury sports cars at $1,888 per vehicle sold.
Large SUVs have lost the most market share since December 2003, decreasing from 7.2% to 6.3%, while large cars have gained the most market share during that period, up from 4.6% to 5.9% of the new vehicle market.
