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Average Vehicle Sells at Nearly $5,000 Below Sticker Price"
SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- Thinking about buying a new car? The payoff could be big for those who do it now, when vehicles are selling at record lows, according to the Edmunds Price Index for new vehicles (EPI-N).The sales-weighted average new vehicle sticker price last month was $29,746, or $525 higher than in June 2004 and $756 higher than in July 2003, the index found. The sales-weighted average net price, which is transaction price less incentives, was $24,764, or $263 higher than in June 2004 and $585 higher than in July 2003, according to the index.The average discount from manufacturer's suggested selling price was a record $4,982, or 16.8% of MSRP, the index showed."New models are being introduced at higher price points, but the competitiveness of the market is dramatically pushing down net prices, resulting in a record average discount," said Dr. Jane Liu, vice president of Data Analysis for Edmunds.com.Minivans saw the largest increase in their EPI-N at 1.7%, followed by large cars at 1.1% and compact cars at 0.6%. "Recent sales have been particularly strong for minivans and compact cars, even considering that summer is typically their high-volume sales season," Liu said.All sport utility vehicle segments -- even luxury SUVs, which traditionally have generally been immune to most of the issues that have affected SUV popularity -- experienced record-setting discounts in July, the index found.Large SUVS, for instance, averaged a net price of $33,121 in July, with an average discount from MSRP to net price of 22.2%. At 13.6%, the average discount from MSRP was lower for compact SUVs -- which recorded an average net price of $20,989 -- but still substantial, the index shows. Edmunds.com analysts also measure the average number of days it takes to sell vehicles after they arrive at dealerships, or "days-to-turn." In July, the average was 72 days, compared to 69 in June 2004 and 73 in July 2003. Of all brands, Mitsubishi had the longest days-to-turn, 111, followed by Jaguar at 108 days. For the third consecutive month, Scion had the shortest inventory turnaround, 14 days, followed closely by Mini at 23 days, the index found.Similar in purpose to the Consumer Price Index, the EPI-N measures the average changes in retail prices for new vehicles with fixed options over time in order to analyze trends. Edmunds.com also calculates and reports a wide range of data including transaction prices and net prices of vehicles by country of origin, manufacturer, make, model and vehicle segment.Visit Edmunds.com: www.edmunds.com"