Analysts Edmunds.com on Thursday projected that the average automotive manufacturer incentive in the US was $US2,416 per vehicle sold in May 2006, up $119, or 5%, from April 2006, and down $150, or nearly 6%, from May 2005.

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The industry’s aggregate incentives spending is estimated to have totalled approximately $3.67bn in May, up from $3.32bn in April. Chrysler, Ford and General Motors spent an aggregate of $2.54bn, or 69% of the total; Japanese manufacturers spent $698m, or 19%; European manufacturers spent $318m, or 9%; and Korean manufacturers spent $127m, or 3%.


According to Edmunds.com, combined incentives spending for domestic manufacturers averaged $3,116 per vehicle sold in May, up from $3,009 in April 2006. Compared with last month, Chrysler’s incentives spending was up $100 to $3,642 per vehicle sold; Ford’s incentives spending was down $94 to $3,200 per vehicle sold; and General Motors increased its incentives by $273 to $2,774 per vehicle sold.


From April to May, European automakers increased incentives spending by $182 to a record high $3,037 per vehicle sold; Japanese automakers increased incentives spending by $146 to $1,325 per vehicle sold; and Korean automakers decreased incentives spending by $12 to $1,780 per vehicle sold.


“The European automakers have been quietly increasing their incentives, mostly through subsidised leases,” said Edmunds’ data analysis head Jane Liu. “Last May, European automaker incentives averaged $1,877 per vehicle and the domestics averaged $3,524. It is remarkable that their averages are now less than $100 apart.”

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Comparing all brands, in May Scion spent the least, $74, followed by Porsche at $469 per vehicle sold. At the other end of the spectrum, Lincoln spent the most, $6,859, followed by Jaguar at $6,565 per vehicle sold. Relative to their vehicle prices, Mercury and Jeep spent the most, 17.2% and 16.4% of sticker price, respectively, while Scion and Porsche spent the least at 0.5% and 0.7%, respectively.


Among vehicle segments, large SUVs continued to have the highest average incentives, $4,783 per vehicle sold, followed by large trucks at $3,823. Sport cars had the lowest average incentives per vehicle sold, $546, followed by compact cars at $893. Analysis of incentives expenditures as a percentage of average sticker price for each segment shows large SUVs averaged the highest, 12.7%, followed by large trucks at 12.5% of sticker price. Sports cars averaged the lowest, 1.9%, followed by compact cars at 5.3% of sticker price.