SANTA MONICA, Calif. —TrueCar estimated today that the average transaction price for light vehicles in the United States was $31,228 in December, up $542 (1.8 percent) from December 2011 and up $396 (1.3 percent) from November 2012.

“Pricing and incentives spending in December were almost ideal for manufacturers, as the industry spent less money on incentives while attaining higher net transaction prices in the market place compared to year ago levels," said Jesse Toprak, senior analyst for TrueCar. "The resurgence of the trucks segment in December helped contribute to some of the highest average transaction prices we have ever recorded.”

Manufacturer

December 2012 Transaction Price

November 2012 Transaction Price

December 2011 Transaction Price

Percent Change December 2011 to December 2012

Percent Change November 2012 to December 2012

Chrysler (Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Fiat)

 $30,011

 $29,796

 $29,322

2.3%

0.7%

Ford (Ford, Lincoln)

 $33,010

 $32,543

 $31,912

3.4%

1.4%

GM (Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC)

 $33,219

 $32,891

 $33,241

-0.1%

1.0%

Honda (Acura, Honda)

 $27,062

 $26,897

 $26,086

3.7%

0.6%

Hyundai/Kia

 $22,547

 $22,342

 $21,426

5.2%

0.9%

Nissan (Nissan, Infiniti)

 $28,127

 $27,704

 $28,298

-0.6%

1.5%

Toyota (Lexus, Scion, Toyota)

 $28,576

 $28,396

 $27,349

4.5%

0.6%

Volkswagen (Audi, Volkswagen)

 $33,914

 $33,610

 $33,781

0.4%

0.9%

Industry

 $31,228

 $30,832

 $30,686

1.8%

1.3%

           

 

 In addition, TrueCar estimated that the average incentive for light-vehicles was $2,409 in December 2012, down $238 (9.0 percent) from December 2011 and up $99 (4.3 percent) from November 2012.

Manufacturer

December 2012 Incentives

November 2012 Incentives

December 2011 Incentives

Percent Change December 2011 to December 2012

Percent Change November 2012 to December 2012

Chrysler (Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Fiat)

 $3,206

 $3,043

 $3,248

-1.3%

5.4%

Ford (Ford, Lincoln)

 $2,633

 $2,526

 $2,926

-10.0%

4.2%

GM (Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC)

 $2,952

 $2,921

 $3,118

-5.3%

1.1%

Honda (Acura, Honda)

 $1,845

 $1,871

 $2,336

-21.0%

-1.4%

Hyundai/Kia

 $1,573

 $1,359

 $1,254

25.5%

15.8%

Nissan (Nissan, Infiniti)

 $2,449

 $2,403

 $2,970

-17.5%

1.9%

Toyota (Lexus, Scion, Toyota)

 $1,756

 $1,632

 $1,904

-7.8%

7.6%

Volkswagen (Audi, Volkswagen)

 $2,391

 $2,264

 $2,518

-5.1%

5.6%

Industry

 $2,409

 $2,310

 $2,647

-9.0%

4.3%

 

TrueCar also estimated that the ratio of incentives to average transaction price for light-vehicles was 7.7 percent in December 2012, down from 8.6 percent in December 2011 and up from 7.5 percent in November 2012. 

Manufacturer

December 2012 Incentives/Avg. Transaction Price

November 2012 Incentives/Avg. Transaction Price

December 2011 Incentives/ Avg. Transaction Price

Percent Change December 2011 to December 2012

Percent Change November 2012 to December 2012

Chrysler (Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Fiat)

10.7%

10.2%

11.1%

-0.4%

0.5%

Ford (Ford, Lincoln)

8.0%

7.8%

9.2%

-1.2%

0.2%

GM (Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC)

8.9%

8.9%

9.4%

-0.5%

0.0%

Honda (Acura, Honda)

6.8%

7.0%

9.0%

-2.1%

-0.1%

Hyundai/Kia

7.0%

6.1%

5.9%

1.1%

0.9%

Nissan (Nissan, Infiniti)

8.7%

8.7%

10.5%

-1.8%

0.0%

Toyota (Lexus, Scion, Toyota)

6.1%

5.7%

7.0%

-0.8%

0.4%

Volkswagen (Audi, Volkswagen)

7.0%

6.7%

7.5%

-0.4%

0.3%

Industry

7.7%

7.5%

8.6%

-0.9%

0.2%

 

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