Sasha on the Street

Want to save money on your next vehicle purchase?

Not only are there incentives from the car companies but now there are incentives from the Canadian Government.

You can save up to $2000 on your next new vehicle purchase.

Introduced in 2006 the ecoAuto program is an incentive to get Canadian’s to drive more fuel-efficient cars. Not surprisingly the biggest rebates are on the hybrid models, small and more efficient vehicles following in behind.

But the ecoAuto progam is old news. I thought I would mention it because Chrysler USA just released its new incentive program, Let’s Refuel America! 

Limiting leasing packages on their vehicles, Chrysler had to find new ways to incent individuals to purchase their cars and trucks. With the prospect of gas rising to $10 per gallon what better way then through a gas incentive program. With the purchase of a new vehicle one can lock in on $2.99 per gallon gas for the next three years and save up to $4500 on your next vehicle purchase.

Sure that all sounds great, cheaper gas and save money on the purchase of a new vehicle. The reason I bring it up, it is the opposite to the ecoAuto program,

The more gas your car guzzles the better off you do in the Chrysler Program.

Thanks to the EconomicAdvisor who read the fine print and reported that the bigger SUV’s and trucks received the $4500 savings. These larger cars were also entitled to more litres of gas at $2.99. Chrysler put a limit on the number of gallons one can purchase per year at $2.99, ranging from 1500 gallons per year for the smaller, fuel efficient cars to 2400 gallons per year for the bigger, gas guzzlers.

But why provide the incentives on the bigger gas guzzlers?

‘Shooting the breeze’ with my boyfriend last night I brought up what I had read on the Chrysler program. Thinking ‘linearly’ I was asking him why the car manufacturers would have these rebates when we are all trying to promote a ‘greener’ planet?

Having worked with many of the big car manufacturers over the years in the marketing sphere he quickly reminded me that Chrysler makes more profit on the SUV’s and trucks than on small, fuel-efficient cars. And the profit differences are astronomical, a fuel-efficient car has small profits, sometimes not even $200 per car, while and a truck can profit as much as $10000 per vehicle.

It’s no wonder the car manufacturers are still trying to sell us their big cars; it’s where all the profits are.

Until we can find ways to make the fuel efficient cars more profitable for the manufacturers, the incentive from the manufactures will be greater than the government allowing the SUV and truck market to continue.