And it turns out that the Japanese isn't doing that great this year, it seems...

[ToniCipriani]

I've noticed an unusual situation going on. There's massive amount (and I do mean massive) of advertising for the Japanese brands going on for some reason on radio. Why I say unusual, because even the dealers that aren't usually advertising, are doing so now. It's like on the radio usually it's the same 2-3 dealers, but this morning I've heard 5 different dealers advertising in a row already. They're all claiming they're offering at least $4-5000 off the new 2008 Hondas and Toyotas, with 0.9% finance rate (Usually this is up at least 3.9% with the other import brands) plus GST rebate, and even up to $7000 on 2007s. Mazda seems worse, they're offering $9000 on some new 2006 Mazda6s.

Maybe it's just the dollar parity thing, since there were reports that the sales of cars have significantly dropped, but nonetheless still massive rebates there. I've yet seen an ad that aggressive on the domestics at the moment, just the usual GM Wish and Win.

[Dragon]

I've only heard the Honda ad's. But I have heard a lot of'em

[CARBIZ]

Dealers are very quiet right now, especially the high end ones. Expect the rhetoric to ramp up. Look at the full page ads in the Star and even the Post. Traffic is way down. Even those who can't afford to pay cash or who have no intentions of going south to buy are waiting to see if Canadian prices will fall.

[enzl]

November's sales have tailed off in many places, apparently.

Consumer confidence is in the toilet and the house rich are no longer able to use their home as an ATM, so what could anyone expect?

I believe what you guys are witnessing is the smaller dealers having their hands forced in a mediocre market....the big guys can survive selling 10% less, the little guys are being squeezed even further...they end up with sales 20-33% down because the effects of this slowdown will fall disproportiionately to those with less momentum.

Everyone has forcasted increased sales...yet it sounds like the true numbers for next year will be down at least another 500,000 units in the US market...someone has to lose. These dealers you have heard are probably sitting on 3/4 months worth of inventory, when they anticipated turning it in 2 or less.

[balthazar]

I have specifically noted that toyota's radio spots over the last 6 months at least have been concentrated on 'the deal' with little to no product information, so this phenomenon predates the 3rd quarter economic downturn. With toyo in this case, I suspect the erosion of the quality gap has spurred a more cash-centric approach, as there was little else tangible to offer anyway.

[GXT]

I believe ToniCipriani was talking about the Canadian market. Canada isn't experiencing the housing market issues that the US is going through (or the Chavez-like socialist freeze that is being pushed as the solution... but that is for another post).

Honda seems to have decided to continue to raise MSRP and is addressing the dollar parity via 0.9% interest rates or cash back offers for people making cash purchases. As long as they continue to go that route they are going to have to advertise the heck out of it. It is very turn-of-the-century GM-esque and I am not a big fan.

In the end the deals aren't that good (at least Honda's) and it seems that Canadians would be wise to continue to wait.

Edited December 10, 2007 by GXT

[Diehard GrandPrix Fan]

Well, I think it's normal that you see a lot of ads like that, since I heard December is one month that the Dealers are just starving. People are out there doing the Holiday shopping. Not many people will buy cars. I heard December is one month that you will have the most bargaining power, since these guys(salesmen) are hungry to get the deals off of their cars. Even though I am one of the unlucky one since, the Grand Prix I want with the equipment I want, no dealer has it, I have to order one anyway so all those programs and stuffs will be useless for me. Oh well.

I think the only Japanese car advertisement I hear mainly is from Mazda. I don't know about others. On the paper, Mazda usually have more ads than anybody else. Pontiac is like the ONLY make who NEVER advertise. I don't know why, don't they want to sell their cars? Hmmm.

Edited December 11, 2007 by Diehard GrandPrix Fan

[ToniCipriani]

Well, I think it's normal that you see a lot of ads like that, since I heard December is one month that the Dealers are just starving. People are out there doing the Holiday shopping. Not many people will buy cars. I heard December is one month that you will have the most bargaining power, since these guys(salesmen) are hungry to get the deals off of their cars. Even though I am one of the unlucky one since, the Grand Prix I want with the equipment I want, no dealer has it, I have to order one anyway so all those programs and stuffs will be useless for me. Oh well.

I think the only Japanese car advertisement I hear mainly is from Mazda. I don't know about others. On the paper, Mazda usually have more ads than anybody else. Pontiac is like the ONLY make who NEVER advertise. I don't know why, don't they want to sell their cars? Hmmm.

Negative... tons of ads trying to sell G5s, Grand Prixs, SV6s and Waves....

Amazingly the G6 isn't on there.

[Robert Hall]

I have specifically noted that toyota's radio spots over the last 6 months at least have been concentrated on 'the deal' with little to no product information, so this phenomenon predates the 3rd quarter economic downturn. With toyo in this case, I suspect the erosion of the quality gap has spurred a more cash-centric approach, as there was little else tangible to offer anyway.

The local TV ads are lind of like that here..one Toyota dealer specifically has comparison ads with two people w/ the same car (Camry, 4Runner, etc) and one smugly mentioned where they bought it and the deal they got, and the other is bummed because they bought elsewhere..

[A Horse With No Name]

Negative... tons of ads trying to sell G5s, Grand Prixs, SV6s and Waves....

Amazingly the G6 isn't on there.

Actually I don't watch much television, but every time that I go over to see my father we usually sit down to watch Football or Basketball. At least on North Carolina TV, the G6 is advertised about every third TV spot.

Chris

[A Horse With No Name]

Depenmds on the Japanese car. Like someone said the high end stuff is in the tank but the Mazda 3, the Civic, The Fit, et al seem to be selling briskly.

Chris

[Satty]

Actually I don't watch much television, but every time that I go over to see my father we usually sit down to watch Football or Basketball. At least on North Carolina TV, the G6 is advertised about every third TV spot.

Chris

Pontiac is majorly in bed with the NCAA, there are Pontiac ads in stadiums, on tv and even in NCAA video games.

[Duncan]

Pontiac is majorly in bed with the NCAA, there are Pontiac ads in stadiums, on tv and even in NCAA video games.

Don't forget the "Pontiac Game-Changing Performance" awards...