(2 of 2)
For car and truck buyers, fierce competition throughout the market has prompted some of the biggest automotive bargains in years. Dealers currently offer discounts that average nearly $2,000 off sticker prices through rebates, subsidized lease rates and other incentives, marking the largest price breaks since the 1990-91 recession. And while automakers yearn to reduce or eliminate such concessions next year, the crowding of U.S. and foreign companies into every segment of the market makes significantly higher prices unlikely. "We're in an environment of no--or very small--price increases," says Chrysler president Thomas Stallkamp.
But that hasn't stopped automakers from enjoying a highly profitable year. Ford and Chrysler recently reported record third-quarter earnings, thanks largely to robust growth in the U.S. (GM is still struggling to recover from a 54-day strike last summer.) Detroit expects its sales of cars, trucks and minivans to surpass a solid 15 million units in 1999. Like the rest of the world's top carmakers, it bets that not even jittery financial markets will keep consumers from driving off in the stylish, microchip-powered vehicles that are arriving on showroom floors.
--Reported by Joseph R. Szczesny/Detroit