US Auto Incentives Rise In Feb; Chrysler At Record Level
03 März 2009 - 3:54PM
Dow Jones News
Auto makers used the highest level of incentives in 25 years in
an effort to revive flagging sales in the U.S., according to a
report published Tuesday.
Chrysler LLC made the most aggressive move last month, according
to data compiled by auto sales tracker Edmunds.com, while Japanese
manufacturers scale back discounts and offers compared with a year
earlier.
Average incentives in the U.S. climbed 15.9% year-on-year in
February to reach 20% of sticker price and were 8% higher than in
January.
The report comes ahead of February auto sales data due later
Tuesday, with manufacturers indicating another fall to an
annualized level of 9 million to 9.5 million vehicles.
Chrysler on average spent $5,566 on each car and truck it sold
in February, a record level according to Edmunds. That's an
increase of 30% from January and a nearly 60% jump from a year
earlier, when Chrysler's average incentive was $3,520.
Jim Press, Chrysler's president, said Tuesday that the auto
maker gained U.S. retail share last month.
Detroit's auto makers in recent years have tried to scale back
profit-eroding discounts but have been forced to return to the
practice as U.S. sales stay at multi-decade lows.
General Motors Corp. (GM) and Chrysler are scrambling to
stabilize their operations as they seek $21.6 billion in emergency
federal loans on top of the $17.4 billion the auto makers already
received.
-By Sharon Terlep, Dow Jones Newswires; 248-204-5532;
sharon.terlep@dowjones.com.
(John Stoll contributed to this article.)