If you’re looking for good new-car deals, you only need to look at the number of vehicles sitting on dealers’ lots and in manufacturers’ storage.
If it’s large number, you can expect to get good deals as the companies attempt to reduce the supply to more normal levels. The longer a dealer has a car on his lot, the more money it costs him, and the less money he makes when he sells it.
New-car inventory is measured in “days supply.” Dealers and manufacturers like to have enough supply on hand so that they don’t run out during normal sales periods, but not so much that it affects costs and possibly manufacturing schedules.
It’s a fine line that must be walked. Manufacturers try to predict how many vehicles are needed, based on dealer orders, and have that supply waiting. However, this is not a perfect world and predictions are not always accurate. This means that, often, dealers and car companies have more vehicles on hand than they can sell in a reasonable time. Generally, having more than about 90 days supply is considered excessive.
In that case, it’s time to offer customers some good deals to help sell vehicles and get inventory back on track again.
So, the key to knowing where to get the best deals depends on knowing which vehicles have more than a reasonable number of days supply., which can change from month to month but usually takes several months to change significantly, if it changes at all.
At the time of this writing, the following vehicle makes and models are in substantial over-supply situation, which means you can expect to get some good deals if any of these are the vehicle you want.
- Dodge Viper
- Dodge Ram
- Fiat 500
- Ford Club Wagon
- Ford Transit Connect
- Lincoln MKC
- Lincoln Navigator
- Cadillac ATS
- Cadillac CTS
- Chevrolet SS
- Chevrolet Volt
- Chevrolet City Express
- Acura ILX
- Acura RLX
- Acura TLX
- Honda Crosstour
- Honda CR-Z
- Honda Insight
- Mitsubishi I-MiEV
- Mitsubishi Lancer
- Mitsubishi Mirage
One of the best ways to find out exactly what you’ll pay for one of the above vehicles — or any other vehicle — is to check with TrueCar and see what other people are paying as well as to get a set price from a dealer near you. It makes comparison shopping easy and convenient.
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