December Transaction Prices Rise to Record High, TrueCar Reports

December was an ideal month for manufacturers. Transaction price rose to record levels while incentive spending continued to fall, TrueCar reports.

by Staff

January 3, 2013

3 min to read

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%