"The jumps in page views on our site for some of these larger new vehicles may represent some pent-up demand that is about to be realized in sales in the coming weeks or months," AutoTrader.com CEO Chip Perry said. "The fact that dealers and manufacturers are offering special pricing and financing on some of these larger vehicles can only help move that inventory."
During the decline of the SUV over the past few years, automakers maintained all along that gas prices would settle down and demand would come back. But none could have foreseen, or prepared for, the breakneck pace at which gas reversed course.
George Pipas, Ford Motor Co.'s top sales analyst, admitted as much this month.
"At this point, our dealers, if taking a poll, would say now we've got maybe a need for more trucks in the months ahead to get those inventories lined up with where the demand is," he said. "That's partly a function of Ford scaling back production, but it also potentially reflects some pent-up demand for these kind of vehicles, as well as other factors."
Essentially, buyers holding off in May and June are trickling back into the market to take advantage of steep discounts, but also because lower fuel costs help them justify buying a new sports utility vehicle that would have seemed fiscally irresponsible when gas was fetching $4 a gallon.
The boon for truck buyers is that while the cost of running the vehicle has plunged from record highs, the cost of buying one is still relatively cheap. Large trucks and SUVs offered the highest incentives as a percentage of sticker price in October, and most major manufacturers have extended promotions such as zero-percent financing into November.
Even Toyota, in attempts to move some of its bigger vehicles such as the Tundra and the Sequoia, is approaching record levels of incentive spending. In fact, the Sequoia SUV was one of the only vehicles in Toyota's lineup to score a sales gain year over year.
It might be too little too late for the reeling U.S. auto sector, but those in the market for a new truck or SUV are starting to take advantage of a silver lining in these desperate times.
