SANTA MONICA, Calif.–The average future transaction prices (ATP) on used vehicles will be up 3.9% or $1,370 from a year ago but down 0.3% or $106 from July 2020, according to ALG, a subsidiary of TruCar.
ALG projects that U.S. revenue from new vehicle sales will reach more than $47 billion for August 2020, down 17.9% (based on a non-adjusted daily selling rate) from a year ago and up 5.9% from last month, according to the company.
“Vehicles are continuing to sell at higher transaction prices when compared to the prior year even amidst the pandemic,” said Eric Lyman, chief industry analyst for ALG, a subsidiary of TrueCar. “However, we are seeing month-over-month declines in average transaction price since May due to pullbacks on the richer automaker incentives that were in the market at the beginning of the pandemic. Consumers leaned into those offers to upgrade to higher priced trims and models which drove up transaction prices.”
“For the second month in a row, since March, automaker revenue for new vehicle sales will be up month-over-month by almost 6%” continued Lyman. “This is a positive sign for the auto industry as targeted incentive spending by automakers continue to fuel the recovery for new vehicle sales.”
‘Shoppers Will Need to Move Quickly’
Added Nick Woolard, director of OEM analytics for TrueCar, “While most automakers are down on incentives month over month, due to the supply shortages caused by the pandemic, Subaru has increased its incentives by 10%. Buyers will notice that models with higher inventory levels will see greater incentives at dealerships. On the other hand, vehicles with high demand and low inventory will see fewer incentives and discounts. If there is a popular vehicle that a consumer is looking for, they may have a harder time getting any discounts, or even finding it on dealership lots. Shoppers will need to move quickly to purchase if they’re looking for a specific model in low inventory.”