Thursday, October 20, 2011

Gap widens between average price of U.S. car and foreign-built auto

Ford dealership American flag

Automotive News reports that domestic automakers are gaining market share thanks in part to the weak dollar. Import vehicles are currently selling at the highest price premium in 12 years compared to their domestic counterparts.

Whereas imports sold for an average of $31,636 in August, domestic vehicles left the lot for an average of $23,922. That's a difference of over $7,000, and the largest gap since 1999. That fact has helped Chrysler, Ford and General Motors pick up some market share. In addition, the earthquake and tsunami activity in Japan earlier this year resulted in tight supply of some Japanese vehicles, further pushing buyers into the waiting arms of domestic automakers.

The report says that total domestic light-vehicle deliveries increased by 10 percent from this time last year. That pushed GM to gain a full point of market share and Ford to pull an extra tenth of a percentage point.

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