Chrysler Offers Dealers $1k to Move the Metal
As TTAC has been predicting, The Big 2.8’s new car pipeline is becoming choked with product. The Dow Jones Newswire [via easybourse] reports that Chrysler is increasingly desperate to keep their factories humming. They’re now offering their stores a grand to move the metal. “Dealers can turn their $1,000 payment into an incentive that can be passed on to a customer and applied to any vehicle in the auto maker’s product portfolio, according to three dealers briefed on the offer. Some of the select vehicles include the Dodge Charger and Jeep Grand Cherokee.” This is on top of Thursday’s announcement, when Chrysler expanded its employee pricing to nearly all 2008 and 2009 Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep models sitting, unloved, on dealer lots. Oh, and Chrysler’s U.S. employees can give one additional discount to a friend or neighbor. Oh, and Automotive News [sub] reports that the fresh-out-of-the-box new Dodge Ram will arrive at Dodge dealers with $1k on the hood. “We’re committed to remaining competitive with our new truck pricing, and that includes offering modest incentive and lowered MSRP pricing,” Chrysler spokeswoman Eileen Wunderlich told AN. Look for Chrysler to lose that modesty in the near future, as ’07 Rams gather dust, even with 40 percent discounts.
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I could care less about grammar. But back to the topic at hand... Most consumers look at their vehicles as 'showhorses' instead of 'workhorses'. A Dodge may indeed be put into that 1/2 MSRP someday. But MSRP is little more than a 'Suggested' price. As in aspirational, wishful, and unrealistic. I would no sooner judge a car by it's MSRP price than an audio system based on it's wattage. It may be a bear market, but you still get what you pay for in the end.
Mr Lang> I believe you incorrect. I have beaten the crap out of a $1000 9 year old neon with electronic nothing (no power windows, nothing).....and it just keeps going and going. Best $1k I ever spent on a vehicle. I am not solely judging a car by it's MSRP but rather comparing it to other cars of similar msrp. If the MSRP of an econobox chrysler is the same as a honda, with similar specs, I'm always going to go honda due to depreciation alone. Chrysler needs to cover this with a discount in order to be entering into competition. Also, it's "I couldn't care less...", which is of course untrue as you brought it up in the first place very early in this topic.
What was the question?
Used Wranglers don't seem to fit the basic depreciation mold. I too, have been shocked at the sticker price of some 2004-2006 Wranglers. Heck, with employee discounts and all, I could just about buy a new one, though I'm not crazy about the "improvements" to the newest gen. They seem a bit too "tonka toy" for me. Oh, well...as for the rest of the Chrysler line-up, not even a 50% cut in MSRP would get me in one.