The Time To Buy A New Car Is Now

With lots of inventory just sitting around and sales lower than expected, this is the time to get a deal on a brand new car.

byGabriel Loewenberg|
The Time To Buy A New Car Is Now
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We recently reported that you can get $8,000 off some new Corvettes and that Fiat-Chrysler's U.S. sales are down. We also reported late last year that Cadillac's domestic sales were down and that muscle car sales had fallen. Across the auto industry, sales are down; in some cases, way down. Dealerships have inventory that has been sitting around, unsold for months and months. Now is the time to buy a shiny, brand new car. 

A cursory internet search, as well of a search of all the advertisements stuffed into my mailbox, turned up all sorts of deals being offered to coax buyers back into showrooms. Some automakers are offering 0% interest for 72 months on many different models. In some cases, you can get 10% to 20% off MSRP before even haggling; and you should haggle. Every deal won't be available in all markets. There might be some restrictions, too. For example, 20% off might only be available on 2016 models or stock older than 60 days. Besides incentives directly from the manufacture, individual dealers, who are stuck with overstock, might be sweetening the pot even more. 

Mid-sized cars and sedans are where the best deals are likely to be found. As Bloomberg reported, sale have fallen sharply and did not recover when expected. Here are some hard numbers from them.

Combined deliveries for Kia and its affiliate Hyundai Motor Co. slumped 11 percent, and Ford’s dropped 7.2 percent last month, bigger decreases than analysts estimated. 

Deliveries of the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord, longtime leaders in the mid-size sedan segment, dropped 3.6 percent and 12 percent, respectively.

The industry’s annualized sales pace, adjusted for seasonal trends, slowed to 16.6 million in March, from 16.7 million a year earlier, according to researcher Autodata Corp. Analysts had projected the pace would accelerate to about 17.2 million.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-04-03/honda-sales-miss-estimates-as-shift-to-suvs-hurts-accord-civic

Basically, it boils down to simple economics. New car sales have fallen well below projections. All the while, automakers churned out a larger number of cars as they expected sales to be significantly higher than the year before. For you, the consumer, this is a good thing, but it won't last long. Automakers have been, and will continue to adjust production to match updated sales projections. Right now, with the market oversupplied, is the time to buy. Channel your inner George Costanza and go find a great deal on that CTS-V or Corvette Grand Sport you've been lusting after.

   

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