Chrysler gives Canadians a break, cuts prices
When the Canadian Loonie reached parity with the U.S. dollar a few weeks ago, consumers north of the border began to fully grasp how much more they are paying for automobiles nearly identical to those sold in the U.S. The Loonie has increased in value further since then, and the price disparity is now even more pronounced. Porsche was the first automaker to respond by lowering the retail prices of its entire lineup in Canada, but more mainstream automakers have been hesitant to change the MSRP on their vehicles. The solution appears to be increasing incentives on cars sold in Canada, which Chrysler recently announced it would do for all the cars and trucks it sells in Canada.
Canadian consumers could be paying anywhere from a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars more for vehicles sold in their country versus the U.S., so Chrysler is jacking up incentives and cash rebates or slashing finance rates to make up for the difference. Beginning on November 1st, the automaker began increasing incentives by as much $5,250 or lowering finance rates so that consumers would save the same amount of money over the financing period. The linked article from The Toronto Star uses the 2007 Chrysler 300C as an example, which saw its cash rebate increase by $4,250 to a grand total of $9,250! Other models, like the new 2008 Grand Caravan, now carry a total rebate of $2,250.
Some automakers doing business in Canada like Honda and Toyota are expected to announce similar incentive increases this week. Others are sure to follow, especially considering a class-action lawsuit is in the works to address the price disparity from the legal end of things if automakers don't act quickly on their own.
[Source: The Toronto Star via The Truth About Cars, photo by KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Russell 3:10PM (11/05/2007)
I say give canucks all the cars for free, they've been goosed for a long time.
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Shadyman 4:41PM (11/05/2007)
Woot! I second that motion!
Russell 6:05PM (11/05/2007)
I am not a Canadian and I approve this message.
Jamesology 3:28PM (11/05/2007)
Chrysler?? they still make them things. I thought benz threw them out in the trash.
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Russell 4:49PM (11/05/2007)
Cerberus must have been dumpster-diving at that exact time.
Bert 3:43PM (11/05/2007)
Now if I can get the S2000 for 35K, or a Miata for 25K or a Sebring convertible for 15K count me in!
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Willem B 3:51PM (11/05/2007)
sebring = slow like a 3 cylinder,
has the gas mileage of a large v8
and is as ugly as a 300lbs woman
mmm 4:03PM (11/05/2007)
I thought the 300C was made in Canada. It wouldnt make sense to lower the price on that car.
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Judy Zik 5:45PM (11/05/2007)
It has nothing to do with where the car was actually assembled. The reality is the MSRP in Canada is higher than the US because the vehicles were priced to reflect the Canadian dollar being weaker than the US. I don't think we are going to see MSRP's drop that much in Canada. They will simply use rebates, incentives and different options packages to even things out a bit.
It is the American consumer who needs to watch out. Their lower dollar is going to mean decontented cars and higher MSRP's. The reality is car companies are more likely to raise American prices than they are to drop Canadian prices.
Perry 4:11PM (11/05/2007)
Hey...what about us who have already bought or leased a car recently?
Are we stuck with the higher payments/lease rates/higher original retail price?
Will there be some form of rebate? What about a credit note for our next purchase? Should there be some kind of retroactive policy?
Personally if I was offered something like that by my current manufacturer, they would win a customer for life.
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PiCASSO 4:29PM (11/05/2007)
That's a very good point your are bringing-up... but at the same time opening a new can of worms. If the price reductions from Chrysler come into effect January 1st, what happens to all the people that purchased their cars today? How far back can you go?
Perry 4:41PM (11/05/2007)
I understand its difficult to put a certain time frame on this...but they could make an effort and work out a deal for people who purchased/leased a car say between 30 and 180 days previously.
A max of 6 months will do it for most people and its a good marketing and customer service move on the part of the companies. After all they keep their current customer base happy. Anyways thats my opinion.
graviton 6:15PM (11/05/2007)
I don't believe you for a minute
SuperSkyline89 9:23PM (11/05/2007)
But the problem is, no matter what time frame you choose there will always be someone who bought their car the day before the last eligible day for a rebate so the problem never really ends.
Perry 9:24AM (11/06/2007)
@ graviton
You are probably right...lol
Alfonso 6:09PM (11/05/2007)
Aha...but not a word about how much we pay for a car here in Europe. In my case, $54.000 (R but not R32, 170hp diesel).
Another one: BMW 335i is 37500 with european delivery in Bayern but if you buy one there and you are living there it's $65300.
Sweet, isn't it?
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CompWizrd 5:46PM (11/05/2007)
Their website still hasn't been updated with new incentives, just checked and it's the usual $2000 dollar delivery allowance for the 300C/300C SRT8. The website itself has been recently updated though, as there's new packages available for the SRT8. Current Dollar is at about 93.2 cents.
CDN Pricing: $45,195-$2000 for the 300C, 52,695-$2000 for the 300C SRT8, without any options.
US Pricing: $36,070-$2,500(31287 CDN) for the 300C, 44,160(41157cdn) for the SRT8.
CDN pricing for what I'd want in the 300C - 47445
US pricing - 38275 (35672 cdn)
CDN Pricing for a loaded SRT8 - 55395
US Pricing - 47645 (44405 cdn)
Plus there's 14% sales tax in Canada, though I'd have to pay the tax anyways when I import the 300C to Canada.. but at a lower base cost.
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CompWizrd 5:49PM (11/05/2007)
14% in my province, at least.. other provinces would vary.
Bret 8:42PM (11/05/2007)
Thats still not even close!!! The prices will have to come down a TON in ALL the manufactures before I admit defeat.
Honda Civic SI in Canada- 27K+
Honda Civic Si in USA-23K+
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Kowell 8:30AM (11/06/2007)
This is just an overcomplicated way of faking bigger price reduction. Insted of bringing the RSPM down, they offer sales incentives of lower value to still keep a piece of the extra profit. They offer complicated rebates that you have to add and factor over therms payments. Navigate around the equations (that were kept a little complicated for a reason) and you realise that your average buyer will only get about 50% of the rebate he should really get to pay the same as the US buyer. Wich I must say was the most probable move...
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