Car Deals Disappear As Dealers Rethink Promotions

Over the past couple of years, consumers have gotten used to dozens of promotions and incentives to purchase American made vehicles. However, as this article from the Huffington Post explains, many car dealerships and automakers are beginning to rethink huge promotions to increase profits.

For years, Americans shopping for cars were treated to all sorts of deals and incentives, especially at the end of summer. Think Cash for Clunkers, which paid up to $4,500, or promotions that offered employee discounts to everyone.

Those days are over.

Deals are becoming more scarce because automakers, newly lean and profitable, are holding the line on those profit-eating promotions. In July, they offered $1,000 less in incentives per car than a year earlier, according to Edmunds.com.

And with no one expecting the government to offer a repeat of the Clunkers program, get ready for fewer discounts on your next car.

"This may be as good as it gets, and get used to it," says Jeff Schuster, the executive director of forecasting for J.D. Power and Associates.

As a result, U.S. auto sales are at a standstill, with potential buyers waiting for more deals but automakers resisting. The industry expects this to be the worst August in 18 years, with sales barely over 1 million cars and trucks. Sales are expected to fall 3 percent from July, according to car-pricing website Truecar.com.

Black Friday: Best Day to Buy a Car

The day after Thanksgiving – known as “Black Friday” to enthusiastic bargain hunters – is one biggest shopping day of the year for retail stores across the county. However, you may not know that it is also one of the best days of the year to buy a new car. According to CNN Money.com, studies show that on Black Fridays car dealerships historically offer large discounts on both new and used cars.

Analysts looked at day-by-day car pricing for the last several years. That data revealed that discounts on Black Friday are, on average, the biggest of the year.

"The discounts from dealerships, as well as manufacturers' incentives, generate the highest discounts of the year on Black Friday," said Jesse Toprak, an analyst for Truecar.com.

Unlike typical Black Friday sales where customers know exactly what they'll pay for an item, car prices are individually negotiated the day of the sale, so it's difficult for customers to know ahead of time they'll be getting a deal. But there's been a clear trend, Toprak said.

Continue reading at CNN Money.com…

Obama Administration Extends Car Dealers' Cash for Clunkers Deadline

The popular Cash for Clunkers program gained so much momentum in its last few days, that dealerships had a hard time keeping up with the rebate-filing deadline. In response, The Department of Transportation has extended the deadline to this afternoon instead of 8 p.m. last night. The sales must have been completed by the original deadline, but dealers who were unable to submit their requests last night can do so today. Check out the following article from USA Today article about the announcement.

Department of Transportation spokeswoman Jill Zuckman said the deadline has been extended because "overwhelming demand" shut down the DOT website temporarily this afternoon.

As the Obama administration's popular auto rebate program wound into its final hours, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told reporters that it has been "wildly successful" in terms of jump-starting the economy.

"You've got dealers, you've got mechanics, you've got the banks doing the loans," LaHood said in Elizabethtown, Pa. "So this isn't just about the auto industry. We're talking about tons of common, ordinary people who are working today because of this program. This is such a win-win for the auto industry and for common ordinary citizens, too."

As of Monday morning, $2.58 billion worth of vouchers have been submitted and 625,000 old, polluting cars have been taken off the road in exchange for new, fuel-efficient cars, Zuckman said. Because most people turned in gas-guzzling trucks and SUVs in exchange for smaller cars, the Department of Transportation is figuring the program will mean a big decrease in pollution. The DOT says the clunkers that have been turned in were averaging 15 miles per gallon, and the new cars people got are 60% more efficient.