TrueCar.com Unveils Brand, Manufacturer Scorecards

TrueCar.com added a new element to its TrueTrends report for November as analysts created a performance scorecard for manufacturers and brands. The site graded each OEM and nameplate on eight different measurements including pricing, sales, incentives, customer loyalty, market share and days in inventory data.

Overall, TrueCar.com found that three of the top four manufacturers are European with Jaguar, Subaru and BMW coming out the highest. Japanese automakers received the lowest grades with Honda and Nissan at the bottom of the list.

Among the brands, Land Rover, Scion and Audi graded the highest while Honda and Nissan had failing grades, according to Jesse Toprak, vice president of industry trends and insights at TrueCar.com.

“The idea of grading brands and manufacturers was to rank them through several capacities from increasing retail sales to brand loyalty to incentive spending,” Toprak explained.

“A few reasons why European automakers scored higher were because of increased market share from last year and lower variances in transaction prices,” he added. 

TrueCar.com analysts also highlighted which vehicles have the best Price Flex Score, a composite reading of total incentives, greatest percentage below MSRP, greatest price drops and days in inventory. They reiterated that the score measures how elastic the transaction price is for a particular model. A high Flex Score means a possibility of a great swing (high or low) in the price from MSRP.

 
Moving on to other parts of the recent TrueTrends report, analysts identified the five brands giving the greatest discounts off of MSRP for 2010 models. Those nameplates included Ford (9.6 percent), Lexus (9.2 percent), Lincoln (9.0 percent), BMW (8.9 percent) and Acura (8.5 percent).

Looking at the same trends but for 2011 models, the site discovered the brand leading the way was Mercedes-Benz (8.2 percent), followed by Acura (8.1 percent), Toyota (8 percent), BMW (7.9 percent) and Lexus (7.2 percent).

The five models TrueCar.com calculated to have the largest amount of total incentives in November included the Cadillac CTS, which has $8,000 in dealer cash available. The other units mentioned were the Mercury Grand Marquis ($4,000 in customer cash rebate and $1,500 in dealer cash), the Volvo S80 ($5,500 in dealer cash), the Nissan Titan ($5,500 customer cash rebate) and Buick Lucerne ($4,500 in customer cash rebate and $750 in dealer cash).

Site analysts believe Nov. 21 is the worst day to buy a new vehicle this month, while the first workday after the Thanksgiving holiday, Nov. 29, is projected to be the best day to purchase a new unit.

Finally, looking at days spent in inventory, TrueCar.com discovered the Ford Mustang leads all 2010 models at 235 days. The other 2010 vehicles with more than 175 days spent in inventory include the Lincoln MKT (228 days), Scion xB (191 days), Cadillac CTS (188 days) and Jeep Commander (178 days).

The 2010 vehicles spending the shortest time on dealer lots include the Ford Explorer (22 days), Honda Fit (34 days), Lexus LS 460 (37 days), Nissan Pathfinder (39 days) and Toyota FJ Cruiser (39 days).

As far as 2011 models, the site believes the Toyota Camry Hybrid is spending the most time on dealer lots at 99 days. Other lengthy stays for this model year include the Volvo C70 (80 days), Jaguar XF Premium (76 days), Infiniti M37 (58 days) and Nissan Versa (52 days).

The 2011 units that are turning the quickest at just six days, according to TrueCar.com, are the Subaru Forester, Nissan Juke and BMW 550i xDrive. Right behind at just eight days are the BMW 535i xDrive and Honda Odyssey.