Deal: 0 percent financing for 60 months, plus $1,500 cash back (CHICAGO, IL – SEPTEMBER 18: A Volkswagen Jetta is offered for sale at a dealership on September 18, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) (Getty Images/Scott Olson)
Deal: 0 percent financing for 60 months, plus $1,500 cash back (CHICAGO, IL – SEPTEMBER 18: Volkswagen Passats are offered for sale at a dealership on September 18, 2015 in Chicago, Illinois. Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) (Getty Images/Scott Olson)
Deal: 0 percent financing for 72 months, plus $2,000 cash back (PRNewsFoto/Ford Motor Company)
Deal: 0 percent financing for 72 months, plus $2,000 cash back (2014 Ford Fiesta Hatch ST is displayed during the media preview of the Chicago Auto Show at McCormick Place in Chicago on Friday, Feb. 7, 2014. AP photo/Nam Y. Huh) (AP/Nam Y. Huh)
Deal: 0 percent financing for 66 months, plus $1000 bonus cash or $2,000 cash back (FILE – In this April 1, 2015 file photo, the 2016 Kia Optima is presented at the New York International Auto Show. AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File) (AP/Mark Lennihan)
Deal: 0.9 percent financing for 60 months, plus $1,750 cash back (PRNewsFoto/Hyundai Motor America)
Deal: $3,500 cash back (This is the Lexus logo on the grill of a Lexus automobile on display at the Auto Show in Pittsburgh Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016. AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar) (AP/Gene J. Puskar)
Deal: $3,500 cash back (GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – MARCH 02: A Lexus logo is displayed during the Geneva Motor Show 2016 on March 2, 2016 in Geneva, Switzerland. Photo by Harold Cunningham/Getty Images) (Getty Images/Harold Cunningham)
Deal: $5,000 cash back (FILE – In this Aug. 5, 2011 file photo, the Lexus logo is displayed on a Lexus sedan in the showroom at Lexus of Kendall in Miami. AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File) (AP/Lynne Sladky)
Deal: 0 percent financing for 60 months or $1,000 cash back
(A worker walks past a Toyota car at a Toyota showroom in Tokyo, Wednesday, June 29, 2016. AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko) (AP/Eugene Hoshiko)
Deal: 0 percent for 60 months, plus $1,000 cash back (Kumar Galhotra, President of Lincoln, left, and Mark Fields, President and CEO, Ford Motor Company, pose with the Lincoln MKX during media previews for the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2015. AP Photo/Paul Sancya) (AP/Paul Sancya)
Deal: 0 percent financing for 36 months (BEDFORD, ENGLAND – JUNE 30: Guests drive an Infiniti Q50 through a slalom as they test the handling during the Infiniti Track Driving Experince at Millbrook Proving Ground on June 30, 2015 in Bedford, England. Photo by Christopher Lee/Getty Images for Infiniti Red Bull) (Getty Images for Infiniti Red Bu/Christopher Lee)
Deal: 0.9 percent financing for 72 months (The company logo shines off the hood of a 5-series sedan at a BMW dealership in the south Denver suburb of Littleton, Colo., on Sunday, Sept. 2, 2007. AP Photo/David Zalubowski) (ASSOCIATED PRESS/David Zalubowski)
Deal: Lease $269 per month for 36 months with zero due at signing and zero first month’s payment (FILE – In this Thursday, Oct. 2, 2014, file photo, a Mazda CX-5 is presented at the Paris Motor Show, in Paris. AP Photo/Remy de la Mauviniere, File) (AP/Remy de la Mauviniere)
WASHINGTON — Auto manufacturers often use cash back or cheap financing to lure buyers to the lot, but incentives are at records right now, and it’s not uncommon to see a combination of both.
Some Labor Day weekend offers appear extremely generous.
Volkswagen is offering 0 percent five-year financing and $1,500 cash back on a Passat or Jetta. Ford is offering 0 percent financing for six years and $2,000 cash back on its Focus and Fiesta.
Lexus is offering cash back as high as $5,000 on some models, and BMW is offering 0.9 percent financing for six years on its 5-Series Sedan.
“Incentive spending is up by 9 percent year to date and really at an all-time high,” says Larry Dixon with the National Association of Automobile Dealers. “But why incentives are so good around the Labor Day holiday is because manufacturers need to make room for the incoming model units.”
Most of those big incentives are being applied to cars, not SUVs or pickups.
“Car demand is a bit softer than truck demand and discounts are higher on cars than they are on trucks, although there are certainly good deals to be found out there for trucks and utilities,” Dixon said.
Most major auto manufacturers reported weaker than expected August sales, reducing the likelihood that the auto industry will top last year’s record for U.S. sales.
Here’s a short list from NADA of some of this holiday weekend’s best manufacturer incentive offers:
- 2016 Volkswagen Jetta
Deal: 0 percent financing for 60 months, plus $1,500 cash back - 2016 Volkswagen Passat
Deal: 0 percent financing for 60 months, plus $1,500 cash back - 2016 Ford Focus
Deal: 0 percent financing for 72 months, plus $2,000 cash back - 2016 Ford Fiesta
Deal: 0 percent financing for 72 months, plus $2,000 cash back - 2016 Kia Optima
Deal: 0 percent financing for 66 months, plus $1000 bonus cash or $2,000 cash back - 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe
Deal: 0.9 percent financing for 60 months, plus $1,750 cash back - 2016 Lexus CT Hybrid
Deal: $3,500 cash back - 2016 Lexus ES
Deal: $3,500 cash back - 2016 Lexus GS Turbo
Deal: $5,000 cash back - 2016 Toyota Sienna
Deal: 0 percent financing for 60 months or $1,000 cash back - 2016 Lincoln MKX
Deal: 0 percent for 60 months, plus $1,000 cash back - 2016 Infiniti Q50
Deal: 0 percent financing for 36 months - 2016 BMW 5-Series Sedan
Deal: 0.9 percent financing for 72 months - 2016 Mazda CX-5
Deal: Lease $269 per month for 36 months with zero due at signing and zero first month’s payment
