Best Car Deals: January 2011

December was a good month for most automakers, and a strong end to 2010. According to analysts at TrueCar.com, December sales were up 26 percent compared to November, and up nine percent compared to December 2009. Even in a year marred by recalls, 2010 initiated the recovery of the automotive industry. “Consumer confidence is rising and there is a lot of pent-up demand in the market,” said Jesse Toprak, VP of Industry Trends and Insight for TrueCar.com. “The retail market continues to improve, which bodes well for the automotive industry heading into 2011.”

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But, what does all that mean if you’re trying to buy a car now? Most analysts expect sales to continue to increase. Analysts at Standard & Poor’s expect car makers to sell 13 million vehicles in 2011, an increase of 1.5 million since 2010. Good sales numbers typically mean that car manufacturers dial back incentives and discounts, especially on their brand-new 2011 models.

We already saw discounts dropping in 2010. Edmunds.com Senior Analyst Michelle Krebs says, "Incentives have dropped back to pre-recession levels after surging in 2009 as manufacturers tried anything they could think of to lure customers to buy their vehicles.” Analysts expect discounts to continue to shrink well into 2011.

But, there are still deals out there, and some of them are quite good. There may be better deals as the industry moves into spring and summer, but if you need to buy a car now, you can do a few things to save some cash. First, focus on 2010 models. Dealers don’t want them sitting on their lots any more, and as a result, they tend to have stronger incentives than the 2011 models. In many cases, the biggest difference between a 2010 and a 2011 model is the year.




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