Auto discounts coming to an end with the summer

Americans have been used to a plethora of deals and incentives on autos, particularly at the end of the summer, for years. This was only exacerbated by ‘Cash-for-Clunkers’ last summer.

Well, a new era has dawned. Deals are coming fewer and far between these days, as automakers struggle to keep their books lean and profitable following the recent industry crisis.

“This may be as good as it gets, and get used to it,” says Jeff Schuster, the executive director of forecasting for J.D. Power and Associates.

U.S. auto sales have practically come to a halt as a result, and the industry is expecting the figures to indicate the worst August in 18 years with sales barely breaking 1 million cars and trucks. Truecar.com, a car pricing and comparison site, is expecting sales to fall 3% from July.

August is usually a roaring month for auto sales, and even as sales were at a 30-year low, heavy government incentives kept the party going last summer, as the clunkers program infusion of incentives and rebates helped the dealers across the country move nearly 1.5 million units.

– By: Stephen Calogera

Source: MSNBC