2012 Ford Fusion
This is a story about the battle for market share and it, of course, has a deal-making angle.
Both Ford of Canada and General Motors Canada have lost market share this year – Ford down 1.0 per cent to 16.4 and GM down 2.0 per cent to 13.5 – in the face of a resurgence of several Japanese car companies. The Honda brand is up one point of share (to 7.5 per cent) and the Toyota brand has picked up 1.5 points of share (to 10.5 per cent).
Honda and Toyota have not been shy about offering discounts to boost their numbers, which means to stanch the bleeding, Ford and GM find themselves aggressively playing the sales sweetening game. On top of that, this is the time of year when auto makers and their dealers are beginning to push harder to sweep their lots of outgoing 2012 models.
So there is something of an incentive war in the Canadian car market, which is in some contrast to the situation in the United States. There, Automotive News reports that U.S. marketers have been careful to avoid slapping big cash discounts on the hoods of a long list of models.
Ford, for its part, is about to launch an all-new Fusion, which means the push is on to clear out the 2012s in Canada. A $20,000 Fusion can be had with at least $3,000 in discounts. Not bad, but not quite as good as the $8,000 or so available on a $26,000 GMC Canyon compact pickup.
Big luxury boats are on offer, too. BMW has at least $15,000 in play on a 750Li, the long-wheelbase version of the 7-Series, and this one comes with all-wheel drive. At Kia, the Forte LX four-door hatchback listing for just over $19,000 is wearing as much as $3,000 in offers – perhaps more, depending on what a buyer can negotiate at the local level.
As usual, Deals of the Week obtained pricing information from www.carcostcanada.com, among other sources. Consult your dealer for all the details. In the meantime, here are the numbers.
2012 Ford Fusion S
- MSRP: $19,999
- Freight, dealer prep, air conditioning tax: $1,650
- Dealer discount (estimated): $350
- Factory discount: $2,000 (Delivery Allowance factory-to-dealer rebate)
- Factory discount: $915 (Employee Pricing Discount factory-to-dealer rebate)
- Taxable subtotal: $18,384
- Total price with 13 per cent HST: $20,773.92
2012 BMW 750Li AWD xDrive
- MSRP: $118,300
- Freight, dealer prep and air conditioning tax: $2,095
- Dealer discount (estimated): $5,000
- Factory discount: $15,000 (Alternate Cash Back factory-to-dealer rebate)
- Taxable subtotal: $100,395
- Total price with 13 per cent HST: $113,446.35
2012 GMC Canyon SLE 2WD
- MSRP: $26,125
- Freight, dealer prep, AC tax: $1,595
- Dealer discount (estimated): $1,350
- Factory discount: $7,000 (Stackable Cash factory-to-dealer rebate)
- Taxable subtotal: $19,370
- Total price with 13 per cent HST: $21,888.10
- Factory discount: $750 (Student Bonus factory-to-customer rebate)
- Final price: $21,138.10
2012 Kia Forte LX 5-door
- MSRP: $19,295
- Freight, dealer prep, AC tax: $1,555
- Dealer discount (estimated): $550
- Factory discount: $2,500 (Trading Dollars factory-to-dealer rebate)
- Factory discount: $500 (Conquest/Loyalty factory-to-dealer rebate)
- Taxable subtotal: $17,300
- Total price with 13 per cent HST: $19,549
Pricing information source: www.carcostcanada.com. Calculations based on Ontario customers. Please note that while the information above is accurate at the time of publication, incentives are given at the discretion of individual dealers, and may be changed or discontinued at any time. Dealer discounts are negotiated with the customer on a case-by-case basis.
jcato@globeandmail.com