The Incentive Wars: GM Cries Uncle. Let Them Cry A Little Louder
Last week, we told you to not buy a full-sized GM pickup just yet, and to hold out for big discounts from GM. You did not have to wait long. However, you may want to wait a little more.
The company that swore discipline and to protect profits now offers incentives as high as
$5,000 per pickup, Bloomberg reports.
This is probably just the opening volley in an all-out incentive war.
There are rebates worth $8,200 for Dodge Rams. TrueCar figures that Ford lubricates its pick-up deal with $6,500 on average. Nissan advertises rebates worth $7,450 for its Titan pickup.
Last Friday, GM doubled cash incentives and sweetening lease terms on some vehicles, including Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks.
By end of November, GM was looking at pickup inventories of 245,853 units. That’s 4½ months of sales of Chevrolet Silverados and nearly five months of sales of its GMC Sierra.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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HEll Ram still has 2011 Heavy Duty trucks for sale at some dealers. In North GA they are offering $12,000 off 2012 F150 XLT and $11,000 off MSRP on 2500 Rams.
Is this Wentworth Chevytown in Portland, OR? I had no idea they were still in business. When I got transferred to Portland in 1982, my company arranged for a new Malibu to be waiting for me. I picked it up at Wentworth. They wouldn't give me license plate frames and the car was literally running on fumes; I was lucky to make it to the first gas station. The car was parked on a right-leaning slant outside the dealership and, when I went to shut my door, it slipped and slammed. That made the window crank fly off, whiz by my face and land on the passenger's seat. Memories...
Ram is weird. Chryco only updated their .ca websites for 2013 3 weeks ago. That's how badly behind they are. When you realize the 2013's are going to be around for only a few short weeks it's idiotic. When the 8 speed shows up, it will be a 2014 model. As for GM, it looks to me from the outside like they're really paranoid about the new model. They're making sure they have tons of product to last for the changeover. Is it that radically different? Does it incorporate some new and complex tech? We await answers.
I can't believe nobody commented on how Ford, Ram and Toyota are so much better than GMC/Chevy. In my second job, I detail cars, lately it's been pick-up trucks. I guess folks get tired of washing/waxing these damn big ass things. Anyway, the trucks with the best interiors, paint, fit-finish, are either Ford or Toyota. GM stuff is so 80's. At least they made a bazillion light tan/silver ones that are easy to buff out.