Toyota ramps up incentives for May, Nissan follows

2011 Toyota Camry

A day after announced that its North American factories will be turning up production sooner than expected, Toyota Motor Sales USA has unveiled a range of cash, interest-rate and lease incentives on most of its vehicles. Japanese competitor Nissan is also following its footsteps for a big Memorial Day push.

The new incentives follow a sharp drop in sales for Toyota and Honda in early May. Nissan sales were also down during the first 10 days of the month.

Earlier this month, Toyota’s budget for incentives was low since the company assumed damage from the March earthquake in Japan. However, efforts to repair its supply chain and bring production capacity close to full has cranked up incentive spending.

Nissan on the other hand plans to bring its production to near-full in June, with North American factories following shortly thereafter.

“Nissan is in a much healthier position than either of our two main Japanese competitors,” Al Castignetti, Nissan Division general manager, wrote to dealers in a memo today. He instructed dealers to “rev the Nissan engine’ and grow market share” through Memorial Day sales and the best-ever lease deals on the Maxima and Altima sedans.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Automotive News