Autoblog

It looks like car shoppers have been smart enough to see past Chrysler's cheap gas guarantee. Despite Chrysler's extension of the offer for an extra month, a very small percentage of actual consumers have actually chosen the gas guarantee over the old fashioned cash back options. As we've reported in the past, the incentive wasn't really as good as it seemed once the math was done. As was pointed out by the Union of Concerned Scientists, a 3 mpg bump in efficiency would be equal to the savings Chrysler was offering. Additionally, Chrysler not only has the worst fleet in terms of fuel efficiency, but many of its products haven't exactly set the world on fire based solely on their own merit. The performance of the incentive deal suggests that in today's world average consumers may not want to be seen driving gas guzzling vehicles, regardless of what they're paying for fuel. Good products are still the only real way to guarantee sales, though cash back incentives still have an impact. Perhaps Chrysler should have offered firearms.

[Source: Auto Observer]

A tight credit market, slumping construction, an economy on bed rest, an end-of-model year, and high gas prices mean one thing for pickup trucks: lots of brand new trucks waiting for buyers. Dealers trying to shift their 2008 Dodge Rams before the 2009s arrive are taking as much as $13,000 off the bill to try and convince buyers to come forth. That means you can get a Dodge Ram 1500 Quad Cab SLT 4x2 for $19,995, instead of $32,795.

With consumers being more picky about what and when they buy, it also doesn't help that dealers really don't want trade-in trucks either, since they can't do anything with them. What Dodge dealers hope for now is that Chrysler will manage the build-out of the 2009 models to give them a chance to get rid of the 2008s. Chrysler says it has a plan that will keep it competitive and keep the changeover orderly. For now, the Ram is the most heavily discounted vehicle out there.

For a dealer in Ohio, the matter of 120-day inventories really comes down to gas prices. "Until we get gas under three bucks a gallon," he said, "these pickups are not going to move." We're sure that no one wants that to be true, because if it is, there will be brand new 2008 Rams on showroom lots for a long time.

[Source: Automotive News, sub req'd]

You thought you knew how much a Dodge Journey costs. Well, it's actually a thousand dollars less than that. Why? Because Chrysler is offering that much as an incentive to folks who plunk down the balance on a 2009 Dodge Journey. On the This Is Not Good side, it's the first 2009 model of the year to put money on the hood, and frankly, it just never looks good when the manufacturer offers cash to entice buyers. On the This Is Really Not Bad side, has anyone had a look at the things folks in Journey's market segment are enduring right now? (Hint: rhymes with "portgage misis.") Yeah. So we won't hit Dodge over the head... but we will be watching...


[Source: Kicking Tires]

Fresh off news that Ford Motor Company was raising prices by an average of $502 per vehicle, the Dearborn automaker told dealers that the company would significantly increase incentives. The goal is to keep older vehicles like the Mercury Milan and Ford F-150 moving off dealer lots while also appeasing a hurting dealer network. Ford plans on using marketing dollars to target specific regions of the US where a particular vehicle may be struggling. That may mean that in Chicago you can get $2,000 on the hood of a Milan, but in California incentives could reach $3,000. CNW Marketing Research President Art Spinella points out to The Detroit News that this selective spend approach is a lot like what new top marketing guy Jim Farley did successfully during his time at Toyota.

After looking at all the red arrows in January's "By the Numbers" report here at Autoblog, we're guessing Ford isn't the only company looking to bump incentives. How many times do Toyota, Honda, and Nissan all report down sales in the same month? At least Ford bumped prices first so the upcoming price battle could be mitigated somewhat.

[Source: The Detroit News]

Using a formula that takes into account what a buyer actually pays for a vehicle, J.D. Power APEAL Survey results and the Consumer Reports Owner Satisfaction Survey, Forbes has come up with the 15 vehicles for which you'll probably pay too. The most overpriced vehicle will cost you $7,158 more than it should. For some reason we couldn't see the 15th and final slide, so all we can tell you is that the 14th most overpriced vehicle will run you $2,447 extra.

The number one slot is held by the $37,105 Dodge Ram 2WD Laramie MegaCab, and the penultimate place was occupied by the $27,470 GMC Colorado. The list is dominated by domestic trucks and SUVs -- the only car on the list is the Mercury Grand Marquis (over by $6,480), and the only import is the Nissan Quest SE (over by $3,441). All of them are long in the tooth, on their way out, or about to be replaced. So if you're in the market for any of them, it's buyer beware time.

Since the Forbes equation factors after-purchase survey results that are of the touchy-feely subjective variety, the list is less a rundown of overpriced cars than it is of cars that have inflated purchase prices and with which buyers weren't totally happy. After all, is there anyone who doesn't think the Lamborghini Reventon is grossly overpriced? (But make no mistake, we'd buy all 20 of them if we had the money.)

[Source: Forbes]

Perhaps the rhetoric coming from Chrysler that the market for minivans is alive and well is just that: rhetoric. The automaker's year end Event of a Lifetime sale happens to include its brand new minivans, the Town & Country and the Dodge Caravan, which can be had until December 3rd with $1,000 on the hood or long-term financing as low as 1.9% APR. Other Chrysler models included in the sale are the 300 ($1,500), 300C ($3,000, excluding the SRT-8), Sebring Convertible ($2,000), Aspen ($1,000), PT Cruiser ($1,000) and the Pacifica in both five- ($1,500) and six-passenger ($2,000) models. You can check out what Dodge and Jeep are offering, as well as any other automaker, on the Cars.com Incentive Page that's always up to date.

[Source: Kicking Tires]

GM has bucked the domestic trend of consistently giving up market share to Japanese automakers for the past couple months, and with a new round of incentives, the General is hoping to keep the trend going. The Silverado and GMC Envoy are among the vehicles receiving an additional $1,000 in rebates during the entire month of October. GM is using targeted incentives on trucks and SUVs, but the incentives don't apply universally throughout the lineup.

Although GM's sales improved year over year in September, incentives were actually down $240 vs. August, to an average of $3,089 per vehicle. That's still $800 more than the industry average, but better than GM's incentive spending in years past. With GM's market share stabilizing, incentives closer to industry average, a competitive labor contract, and some interesting products in the pipeline, GM may have turned the barge faster than we expected.

[Source: Bloomberg]

General Motors had a good August, bucking the industry trend with a year over year sales increase. A big part of that success came with zero-percent financing on the Silverado and GMC Sierra, and the General is looking to ride the wave by extending free loans through October first. GM isn't stopping with pickups either. Several 2007 models are getting an additional $1,000 on the hood, including the Yukon, Impala, and G6.

GM has done a pretty good job of staying off incentives through 2007, but the last few months have been brutal. Even some automakers from across the Pacific, who traditionally shy away from cash on the hood, have felt the pinch. GM hasn't announced additional production cuts, but if the incentives don't work, the Detroit-based automaker may have little choice.

[Source: Detroit News]

Even with two all-new models on the market, pickup truck sales have been dragging for a few months now. The battered housing market and high gas prices have been blamed for the slump, but incentives seems to be remedying the problem in quick order, and have resulted in a great month of sales for August. Sales of large pickups last month accounted for 14.89% of the overall market according to this report, a 20-month high in market share for these work horse vehicles. J.D. Power and Associates reports that automakers spent on average $4,500 per truck in incentives last month, the largest amount since July 2006. This tells us that truck buyers are getting hooked on incentives, and the pickup truck segment as a whole is becoming more and more reliant on the sales practice to move its metal into buyers' hands.

[Source: JD Power & Associates]

Chrysler is already offering five-year, interest-free loans on some of its cars. As of today, it is also offering six-year, interest-free loans and cash incentives. Cerberus, faced with Chrysler's first decline in sales since it took the controls, is not inclined to waste time trying to raise its share. It could also be an effort to make space for '08 model year vehicles. Nevertheless, Chrysler's drop -- 6.1-percent in August, but only 2.7-percent over the first eight months of the year -- is the smallest of the Big Three.

Buyers can take advantage of the six-year loan, or the cash (but not both, sorry), on the Grand Caravan, Town & Country LWB, Dakota, Durango, and Aspen. The new incentives are good through October 1.

[Source: Detroit News]