Transaction Prices Fall in April, TrueCar Reports

Transaction prices are falling, with TrueCar reporting that the average transaction price fell by $445 from last month.

by Staff

May 1, 2012

2 min to read

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — TrueCar.com estimated today that the average transaction price for light vehicles in April was $30,303, up $1,219, or 4.2 percent, from a year ago but down $445, or 1.4 percent, from last month.

"Incentives continued to decline for most automakers with the exception of Honda and Toyota, as both are vying to recapture their lost market share from last year,” said Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends and insights for TrueCar.com. “Ford is now spending less on incentives as a percentage of their average transaction price then Honda.”

Transaction Price Forecast

Manufacturer	April 2012 Transaction Price	March 2012 Transaction Price	April 2011 Transaction Price	Percent Change April 2011 to April 2012	Percent Change March 2012 to April 2012
Chrysler (Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Fiat)	$29,518	$29,842	$28,469	3.7%	-1.1%
Ford (Ford, Lincoln)	$31,349	$31,758	$31,054	0.9%	-1.3%
GM (Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC)	$33,027	$33,289	$31,616	4.5%	-0.8%
Honda (Acura, Honda)	$26,614	$26,249	$25,215	5.5%	1.4%
Hyundai/Kia	$22,018	$21,717	$20,074	9.7%	1.4%
Nissan (Nissan, Infiniti)	$27,896	$28,322	$27,146	2.8%	-1.5%
Toyota (Lexus, Scion, Toyota)	$27,612	$27,396	$26,690	3.5%	0.8%
Volkswagen (Audi, Volkswagen)	$33,318	$33,124	$31,799	4.8%	0.6%
Industry	$30,303	$30,748	$29,084	4.2%	-1.4%

TrueCar.com also estimated that the average incentive for light vehicles was $2,446 in April, down $120, 4.7 percent, from March but up $129, or 5.6 percent, from April 2011.

Average Incentives Forecast

Manufacturer	April 2012 Incentives	March 2012 Incentives	April 2011 Incentives
Chrysler (Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Fiat)	$3,071	$3,272	$2,785
Ford (Ford, Lincoln)	$2,558	$2,840	$2,400
GM (Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC)	$3,156	$3,266	$3,067
Honda (Acura, Honda)	$2,398	$2,220	$2,171
Hyundai/Kia	$1,223	$1,237	$1,279
Nissan (Nissan, Infiniti)	$2,723	$3,050	$1,997
Toyota (Lexus, Scion, Toyota)	$1,823	$1,745	$1,877
Volkswagen (Audi, Volkswagen)	$2,277	$2,425	$1,819
Industry	$2,446	$2,566	$2,317

Additionally, TrueCar.com estimated that the ratio of incentives to average transaction price for light vehicles was 8.1 percent in April, up from 8 percent in April 2011 but down from 8.3 percent in March 2012.

Ratio of Incentives to Average Transaction Price

Manufacturer	April 2012 Incentives/Avg. Transaction Price	March 2012 Incentives/Avg. Transaction Price	April 2011 Incentives/ Avg. Transaction Price
Chrysler (Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Fiat)	10.4%	11.0%	9.8%
Ford (Ford, Lincoln)	8.2%	8.9%	7.7%
GM (Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC)	9.6%	9.8%	9.7%
Honda (Acura, Honda)	9.0%	8.5%	8.6%
Hyundai/Kia	5.6%	5.7%	6.4%
Nissan (Nissan, Infiniti)	9.8%	10.8%	7.4%
Toyota (Lexus, Scion, Toyota)	6.6%	6.4%	7.0%
Volkswagen (Audi, Volkswagen)	6.8%	7.3%	5.7%
Industry	8.1%	8.3%	8.0%