Shopping for a car? You may finally get a discount
Shoppers may finally get a break in the dealership showroom.
Although U.S. auto sales remained strong in October from historical standards, prices are flattening out and discounts are adding up after years of consumers forking over more cash for new vehicles.
While overall average prices hit an all-time high in October, according to car-buying research site Edmunds.com, the increase came mostly from a shift in mix from low-priced cars to higherpriced crossovers, pickup trucks and SUVs. Look under the hood and you’ll see that many consumers are catching a break. Average discounts per vehicle jumped 16.5% in October, compared with a year earlier, to $3,472 per vehicle, according to Edmunds.
It’s even happening with red-hot crossovers, a segment that’s growing extremely competitive as automakers introduce new models to capitalize on consumers ditching passenger cars.
That translated into a $491 increase in average discounts per vehicle, easily outpacing the $128 average increase in price per vehicle reported car-buying advice firm Kelley Blue Book.