Automakers managed to make the largest YOY sales gain since February

After three consecutive declines, automakers managed in November to make the largest year-over-year sales gain since February, posting a 3.6 percent gain. However, it took a big jump in incentives to make that happen. Those heavy incentives – now amounting to more than 12 percent of the industry’s average transaction price – might be enough for 2016 to topple last year’s record by a razor-thin margin. Going into December, U.S. sales were just 6,418 vehicles ahead of last year’s pace, an increase of 0.04 percent.

November and December have become big months for promotions in recent years. But even by that standard, automakers were unusually aggressive last month, spending $3,741 per vehicle, 21 percent more than in November 2015. And unlike many recent months, that money wasn’t aimed at clearing out inventories of slow-selling cars; it was largely used to grab more share in SUV, pickup and crossover segments that were already red-hot. Incentives surged 30 percent on light trucks, nearly triple the 11 percent increase for cars. GMC spent 68 percent more on the Sierra, Ford spent 88 percent more on the Explorer and Toyota nearly tripled incentives on the Highlander. Read more