Incentive - September 2008 - (Page 48) marketing opportunity. Because the skyrocketing price of gas is now a hot button, a manufacturer that is offering a solution to high gas prices can actually benefit from the crisis by simply repurposing other benefits already in existence, such as cash-back, zero cash down or zero-interest financing for an extended period of time—all of which amount to a price cut. MasterCard or Visa credit card could use a special card linked to their credit card account. The card was used to purchase enough fuel at $2.99 per gallon to travel up to 12,000 miles per year for the next three years. So, no matter the price at the pump, owners will pay $2.99 per gallon for qualifying fuel. At an Oregon Chrysler-Dodge dealership, the sales manager says many people “If the car’s exactly the same and incentives are taken away, sales decline.” –Jesse Toprak, Edmunds.com One recent repurposing attempt involved a guaranteed offset in fuel costs. Chrysler’s “Let’s Refuel America Program” grabbed the spotlight, and consumers’ attention, this summer. The program worked this way: Those who purchased or leased an eligible Chrysler, Dodge or Jeep vehicle from May 7 through July 2008 and had a valid started coming into the showroom after the promotion started in the first week of May. Sales picked up, and quite a few of the people coming in were trading in 2005, 2006 or 2007 cars. Despite that success, Swary is unimpressed. He sees Chrysler’s guaranteed gas price as nothing more than another way to give money back to the customer. “The reality of the situation is that this is a topic people are quite worried about now,” says Swary. “When you see stories on rising fuel costs on the news every day, whether you’re the one who actually helps the consumer out or not, if you’re the one who makes them believe you are, you’re benefiting from the fact that this is such a topical issue at the moment.” Swary doesn’t see fuel costs going any lower soon. He sees the gaining of market share as just another way to survive. If an automaker gets a bigger piece of a smaller pie, that can still offset the shrinking of the market. Alternatively, to survive they’ll need to have incremental growth. “Other ways to increase market share, other than just incentives, tie directly to the cause of why the market is shrinking,” says Swary. “Better training for dealership personnel on how to sell against the competition will help. The point is, financially everybody is getting squeezed, including the corporations. “If you want to put incentives out there, that money must come from somewhere. There are only so many places it can come from,” says Swary. “It could be from 48 | Incentive | September 2008 | incentivemag.com http://Edmunds.com http://incentivemag.com
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