FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Edmunds.com Reports True Cost of Incentives for June; Incentives Down From Last Year
SANTA MONICA, Calif. — July 1, 2008 — Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive information, estimated today that the average automotive manufacturer incentive in the U.S. was $2,356 per vehicle sold in June 2008, up $32, or 1.4 percent, from May 2008, and down $22, or 0.9 percent, from June 2007.
"General Motors and Toyota were the only two companies to have increased incentives this month from last year with Toyota incentives reaching a record high," stated Jesse Toprak, Executive Director of Industry Analysis for Edmunds.com. "General Motors last minute 72-hour sales campaign helped increase their incentives spending for the month and Toyota needed some additional dollars to move their large SUVs and trucks from dealer lots."
Edmunds.com's monthly True Cost of IncentivesSM (TCISM) 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.
According to Edmunds.com, combined incentives spending for domestic manufacturers averaged $3,213 per vehicle sold in June 2008, down from $3,349 in May 2008. From May 2008 to June 2008, European automakers increased incentives spending by $299 to $3,048 per vehicle sold; Japanese automakers increased incentives spending by $135 to $1,404 per vehicle sold; and Korean automakers decreased incentives spending by $22 to $1,951 per vehicle sold.
| True Cost of Incentives for "Big Six" Automakers | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Automaker | June 2008 | May 2008 | June 2007 |
| Chrysler Group | $3,427 | $3,630 | $3,822 |
| Ford | $2,745 | $3,190 | $3,131 |
| General Motors | $3,454 | $3,309 | $2,891 |
| Honda | $1,367 | $1,145 | $1,412 |
| Nissan | $1,974 | $1,989 | $2,137 |
| Toyota | $1,186 | $1,034 | $988 |
In June 2008, the industry's aggregate incentive spending is estimated to have totaled approximately $2.84 billion, down 12.3 percent from May 2008. Chrysler, Ford and General Motors spent an aggregate of $1.7 billion, or 60.3 percent of the total; Japanese manufacturers spent $712 million, or 25.0 percent; European manufacturers spent $278 million, or 9.8 percent; and Korean manufacturers spent $140 million, or 4.9 percent.
"More of the same this month with continued high levels of incentives being spent on large SUVs and trucks," commented Edmunds' AutoObserver.com Senior Editor Michelle Krebs. "We expect Chrysler and Ford will become more aggressive to decrease inventories of their current Dodge Ram and F-150 before they introduce their replacements."
Among vehicle segments, large SUVs had the highest average incentives, $5,097 per vehicle sold, followed by large trucks at $4,329. Sport cars had the lowest average incentives per vehicle sold, $1,128, followed by compact cars at $1,168. Analysis of incentives expenditures as a percentage of average sticker price for each segment shows large SUVs averaged the highest, 13.5 percent, followed by large trucks at 13.3 percent of sticker price. Sport cars averaged the lowest, 3.9 percent, followed by luxury sport cars at 4.9 percent of sticker price.
Comparing all brands, in June MINI spent the least at $125 followed by Scion at $223 per vehicle sold. At the other end of the spectrum, Saab spent the most, $7,215, followed by Cadillac at $6,612 per vehicle sold. Relative to their vehicle prices, Saab and HUMMER spent the most, 20.6 percent and 15.2 percent of sticker price, respectively; while MINI spent 0.6 percent and Scion spent just 1.3 percent.
About Edmunds (http://www.edmunds.com/about/)
Edmunds publishes four Web sites that empower, engage and educate automotive consumers, enthusiasts and insiders. Edmunds.com, the premier online resource for automotive consumer information, launched in 1995 as the first automotive information Web site. Its most popular feature, the Edmunds.com True Market Value®, is relied upon by millions of people seeking current transaction prices for new and used vehicles. Edmunds.com was named "Best Car Research Site" by Forbes ASAP, has been selected by consumers as the "Most Useful Web Site" according to every J.D. Power and Associates New Autoshopper.com Study(SM), was ranked first in the Survey of Car-Shopping Web Sites by The Wall Street Journal and was rated "#1" in Keynote's study of third-party automotive Web sites. Inside Line launched in 2005 and is the most-read automotive enthusiast Web site. CarSpace launched in 2006 and is an automotive social networking Web site. AutoObserver.com launched in 2007 and provides insightful automotive industry commentary and analysis. Edmunds is headquartered in Santa Monica, California, and maintains a satellite office in suburban Detroit.
