Auto Incentives Renewed in May

April 29, 2009

may-2009-incentives In the old days (last year) it was a sure thing that automobile incentives would not be renewed every month. Incentives — rebates, low-interest loans, employee prices — would only be offered every now and then when sales were slow on particular models. The incentives would do their job to improve sales and there was no need to renew the promotions the next month.

So, what’s different now?

Incentives from car manufacturers are being offered EVERY month now — because sales are dismal EVERY month now.

Some manufacturers are offering incentives on EVERY model, not just one or two like before. And manufacturers, such as Lexus and Mercedes, that didn’t use incentives before, are offering them now. Times have changed.

It’s not quite May yet and most of the current incentives end April 30, 2009. And you know from our previous posts that it is impossible to know what the next round of deals will be. Even dealers don’t know until the last minute.

Will the May 2009 rebates and good deals be as good or better than the April deals? There’s no way to know at this time. However, you can be assured that there will be good incentives in May on nearly every brand. Some deals will be better than others. There will be rebates, 0% loans, factory-to-dealer cash, and customer protection plans.

We will be keeping a sharp watch on the new May incentives and will report them here as they are announced. Check back here often in the next few days. Some manufacturers announce early, some a little later. Some modify their offers in the middle of the month.

BMW has already announced its May 2009 offers. See BMW Lease Deals and BMW Adds Incentives Thru May. There may be more after May 1.

You can get free updated price quotes on any new car make and model from Edmunds.com. The quotes will automatically include any cash-back rebates or discounts that are currently available at the time.