Per usual, as the year draws to a close, new car buyers are in a position to pick up outgoing 2006 models at discounted rates. Chrysler is no exception, but with huge supplies of pickups and SUVs laying stagnant on dealer lots, cash incentives began to go through the roof last week. The newest mound of bennies persuading would-be buyers is $1,000 on vehicles that have a dealer invoice before April 1, 2006. Since these vehicles have been the slowest to sell, DaimlerChrysler is looking to do anything to unload them as quickly as possible.
One dealer in Oregon is reported to be selling Dodge Durango’s at $8,000 below sticker, with $6k in rebates, $1k for financing with Chrysler’s financial arm and another grand off if the SUV has been around since before April 1st. The newly released, Durango-based, Chrysler Aspen is also seeing substantial cuts to its pricing as supply is far-exceeding demand.
Since DaimlerChrysler announced they expect a $1.5 billion loss for the third quarter and production has finally been slowed to reflect current market trends, the automaker is trying to spell relief, C-A-S-H. Let’s hope for their sake it works. [Automotive News – Sub. Req.]