Edmunds CEO: If you can wait to buy, wait.

[Hetfield03]

Interesting piece I found thru google news.

http://www.stltoday.com/business/col...f1d26af40.html

If you're thinking of buying a car soon, here's some advice:
Don't.
"If you can wait, wait," says Jeremy Anwyl, CEO of Edmunds.com,
the car-buying website.
The Japanese earthquake is raising prices and cutting selection
— and the effect is spilling over into American cars. Meanwhile,
problems in the new car market are driving the rapid rise in
used-car prices.
The good news: The Japanese are restoring production faster than
expected. If you can hold off until fall or winter, you might get a
better deal.
Let's look at new cars first: Prices were rising even before the
March quake as demand for cars improved. Now, the Japanese mess is
producing strange reverberations.
At first, it produced a rush of buyers to Japanese models in a
get-'em-while-they-last phenomenon. Then it produced a rush toward
American cars as buyers assumed they'd get better deals, says
Anwyl.
"People who wouldn't think of a Ford or a Chevy have shifted,"
he says.
That scared Japanese automakers, who thought they might forever
lose market share. So, Toyota and Nissan this month added sales
incentives, which should lessen the price sting on certain
models.
The quake's major effect was to quicken the rise in new-car
prices. Average prices paid by customers in early were May up
sharply from the weeks before the quake. Japanese prices are rising
the fastest, with European prices steady and domestics in
between.
Buyers this month are paying $2,495 more than in February for
Toyota RAV4 and $1,650 more for a Honda Civic, according to
Edmunds. By contrast, a Ford Escape SUV was up a mere $170.
The squeeze is worse in small, fuel-efficient cars, the Japanese
specialty. Gasoline at $3.72 per gallon makes them a consumer
favorite.
All that has taken the sheen off demand. Retail light vehicle
sales in early May were running at an annual rate of 9.6 million in
early May, down from the 10.7 million average so far this year.
Dealers have less reason to negotiate, so they're stretching
their profit margins. Dealers were earning 3.45 percent on the
price of a Toyota Corolla in mid May, compared to a mere 0.93
percent in February, according to Edmunds. Manufacturers are also
less generous with incentives, although there are still plenty out
there.
The quake slowed car production in Japan to a crawl, and the
ensuing parts shortage sliced Japanese production at American
plants. A.T. Kearney, the consulting firm, estimates that the quake
will shave Japanese car sales in the U.S. by 341,000. That's about
3 percent of U.S. annual sales.
Japanese car dealers still have quite a few cars at the moment.
Mazda, for instance, has a three-month supply, says Anwyl. Nissan,
which geared up production before the quake, said its U.S.
inventory actually grew in May. But Toyota and Honda have bigger
problems, and there's real worry about shortages this summer.
After that, things will look brighter. "It's going to get better
sooner than people think," says Anwyl.
Nissan expects to restore full production by October and Honda
by year end. Toyota expects North American production will be back
to 70 percent of normal by June and fully restored by year end.
Those plants have been operating at 30 percent levels. Production
of Corollas should be back to normal by next month.
Once normalcy returns, expect the Japanese to try to grab back
some market share, and that can mean better prices. "You know that
the Japanese will be very aggressive," says Jonathan Banks, analyst
at the NADA Used Car Guide.
Higher new car prices drive more customers to used cars. That's
making a bad situation worse for used-car buyers. A shortage of
late-model used cars was driving up prices months before the
earthquake.
Small-car prices are up 3 to 4 percent over the past month, says
Banks. But that bump is paltry compared to what came before. Prices
for small used cars are up 31 percent from a year ago, midsize cars
are up 27 percent and large sizes up 13 percent.
Blame the Great Recession. The slump cut new-car sales by a
third during the slump, hitting bottom in 2009. That means fewer
late-model used cars on the market now.
Meanwhile, people who hung on to their clunkers during the bad
times find the wheels are finally falling off. So they're heading
for the used car lots, boosting demand.
Analyst Banks thinks used car prices may go up a little more
this summer, but lower prices are likely after that. "There has to
be a correction," he says.

[ihaveacamaro]

cool info! but as most on this forum already have camaros... kinda not applicable to the masses on camaro5.com lol

[Hetfield03]

Oh I know we do. Thats kinda why its interesting to me. I think I got a great deal. The article leaves me c scratching my head, but if prices really are going to increase, I'm definitely glad I went ahead and purchased.