Zero percent for five years, $5-per-day leases and $750 toward a down payment.
It’s the spring selling season for an auto industry struggling to get Americans to stop watching war coverage long enough to shop for a new vehicle.
After backing off in March, General Motors went back on the offensive in April, offering zero-percent financing for 60 months or rebates up to $3,000 on all its brands except Hummer, its most generous incentive program since fall.
Ford and Chrysler quickly matched GM on several models and added their own wrinkles.
Ford is offering $5-per-day leases on Mustang coupes and Ranger Edge pickups. The leases are for 48 months and require a 10 percent down payment.
Chrysler will match a customer’s down payment up to $750 on minivans and the Jeep Grand Cherokee. The $750 match is in addition to rebates of $3,000 or zero-percent financing on those models.
The incentives from GM and Chrysler run through April 30, and Ford’s are through May 5.
Led by GM, the industry has been on an incentive binge since September 2001, but sluggish sales in January and February indicated consumers had become immune to endless offers of zero percent and large rebates.
Paul Taylor, chief economist of the National Automobile Dealers Association, says major snowstorms in February and the start of the war in Iraq last month sidetracked many car shoppers. Taylor expects sales to pick up in April and May, traditionally strong months for new-vehicle sales.
“We’re going to find out if they’ve lost their zip,” Taylor said of the latest incentives. “Even if they’re not as potent as they once were, combined with the normal seasonal pattern in which people get out to look at cars, we should see some pretty strong sales.”The industry sold nearly 3.8 million cars and light trucks in the first quarter, down 4.4 percent from last year.
