(WWJ) Black Friday isn’t just a big day for Christmas shoppers, it can be a big day for car shoppers. In fact it starts a very busy end of year season for car dealers.
“I think it’s a time when consumers are conditioned to buy and look for these promotions,” says Jessica Caldwell, Executive Director of Insights at Edmunds.com.
A quick internet search showed a number of cash back deals, but Caldwell says in many cases carmakers are trying to make monthly payments reasonable by offering low interest loans.
“We’re starting to see a lot of APR deals. We’re starting to see a lot of lease deals. It just seems that it’s coming more to fruition.”
While ties to the auto industry make leases popular in the Detroit area, leasing is at lower than normal levels nationwide. Analysts say that’s one of the levers that carmakers can use if they need to push the market.
Carmakers have been running ads promoting Black Friday and end of year deals for several weeks now. That is the type of thing that gets buyers into dealerships during the Thanksgiving weekend and through December.
“There’s the creation of the idea that the deals are available,” says Caldwell. “That’s as powerful as the deals themselves.”
Dealers and manufacturers depend on this time of year to give them a strong close, which is why they do so many holiday and year-end promotions
“Really once we hit the last five weeks, things start to pick up,” says Tyson Jominy, JD Power’s Vice President of Data and Analytics.
This has been an odd year for vehicle sales, impacted by changing tariffs and changing ev incentives. But, despite a slight dip in sales for October and an anticipated dip in November, things are expected to pick up a bit in December.
Jominy sees the industry selling around 16 million vehicles for the full year 2025, a slight increase from 2024.
“Y’know sales growth is better than a poke in the eye.”