By Michael Burke
Journal Times | Posted: Thursday, January 8, 2009 12:00 am
RACINE - Dealers at this weekend's New Car Show 2009 know the recession won't make their jobs any easier this year than last.
The annual event, which begins today, comes just days after year-end reports showed a 2.9-million-vehicle plunge in new-car sales in 2008 from the year before.
But local auto dealers say there's never been a better time to buy a new car.
"Incentives on vehicles are better than they have ever, ever, ever been," said Anthony Porcaro, vice president of Porcaro Ford and Porcaro Mitsubishi, at 5910 and 6107 Washington Ave., respectively.
Those incentives can add up to $4,000, $6,000, even up to $11,000 off the manufacturer's suggested retail price, or MSRP, he said.
Porcaro said auto manufacturers want to reduce inventories and are attaching heavy incentives to certain models in particular. "I don't really see (incentives) sticking around forever," he said.
Porcaro said manufacturers are currently breaking some new ground by also putting incentives on brand-new vehicles. A Ford Edge with a $39,745 window sticker will actually sell for the "employee price" $4,200 below that, with another $500 discount by financing with Ford.
"Typically, your new vehicles coming out of the chute, there are no incentives on them," Porcaro said.
Over at Garbo Motors, 3077 Douglas Ave., Tony Garbo said this is only the second time the public is being offered employee pricing. The first was after Sept. 11.
But that employee pricing ends Sunday, said Garbo, a salesman and grandson of the company's founder. Primarily, he said, this year the dealership will count on factors such as customer loyalty, fuel-efficient vehicles and cost-effective vehicles to drive sales.
Garbo cited the Mercury Milan, with an MSRP of $21,655, but which can be had for $16,980 at this moment. It gets about 24 mpg in the city and 30 on the highway.
Within two months, the Milan hybrid will come out, he added. It will sell for about $30,000 to $32,000 but will come fully loaded with amenities such as navigation system, back-up camera and blind-spot indicators. And for mileage, Garbo said the Milan hybrid will beat the Toyota Camry hybrid by 6 mpg.
Terry Gifford, sales manager at the Frank Boucher dealership, 8600 Washington Ave., talked about some of the incentives GM is offering. For example, trade in a GM vehicle from 1999 or later, and you can knock up to $3,000 off the new one's price.
And financing a car through GMAC can mean an interest rate as low as zero percent, he added, saying, "That makes us really optimistic for the first quarter."
IF YOU GO:
New Car Show 2009
Racine Festival Hall
5 Fifth St.
Friday noon to 7 p.m.
Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Sunday 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Admission: free