“With consumers spending far less, automakers must do what they can to lure people into the market, and incentives are the best way to do that,” said Jessica Caldwell, director of insights at Edmunds. “Even after shelter-in-place orders are lifted, incentives are expected to stay generous as the country begins to financially recover.”
The 0 percent offers for new vehicles represented 26 percent of April sales, according to Edmunds. Mainstream SUVs garnered 48 percent of the loans, followed by pickups at 30 percent and mainstream cars at 15 percent. Luxury vehicles were just 5 percent of the total, but some premium brands offered 0.9 percent.
Leading the percentage of April loans at 0 percent was Land Rover with 86 percent of sales. In April 2019, only 3.2 percent of auto loans were at 0 percent.
The financing deals did what they were expected to do, said J.D. Power. Although the Detroit 3 didn’t report sales last month, the full-size pickup segment saw the best sales by far thanks to financing and other incentives. Hyundai’s retail sales fell just 28 percent in April. Honda — without the no-interest offers — saw retail sales dive 54 percent. U.S. sales overall last month were about 50 percent off vs. last year but had recovered to about 70 percent of normal by early May.
