The automotive market forced to take some serious decisions

The automotive market forced to take some serious decisions: Almost half of the year is gone, so it’s getting pretty clear that the U.S. auto sales won’t reach a new record in 2017. We expect the U.S. car sales to reach approximately 17.2 million units in 2017, which is a less than the earlier prediction of 17.5 million. Still not so bad, when we think of all the issues happened in the automotive world by now, right?

Based on dealerships' data through the first part of May, the average incentive was $3,583 per unit, a record for the month of May, analysts said. That was up from $3,342 in May 2016. Measured another way, the average incentive as a percentage of manufacturers suggested retail price was 9.9 percent, and likely to top 10 percent of MSRP for the month. That would make 10 out of the last 11 months that happened, the forecasting firms said. The good news for the U.S. auto industry is that despite the high level of discounts, the amount customers actually pay is still on the rise – for now. The average transaction price, net of incentives, for new vehicles was a record $31,419 in early May. That would also be a record for the month of May.

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