You'll soon be paying more for GM products like this Buick Regal.
General Motors is the latest automaker to ask customers to help cover its own rising costs.
The typical GM product will cost about $123 more, starting May 2nd, which the maker attributes to the higher price it is paying for commodities such as steel and oil. Steel is the dominant material in a car, but higher oil prices translates into increased costs for plastics – and the tank of gas a new model leaves the factory with.
GM is by no means alone. Ford has bumped up prices. And so has Toyota, which plans to add an additional 1.2% to 2.2% to the sticker on its Toyota, Scion and Lexus products, come May.
Customers might not even notice that relatively modest increase. Industry watchers note that Japanese car prices have surged by as much as $3,000 in recent months, dealers taking advantage of rising demand for hybrid and high-mileage models – as well as protecting profits as they watch supplies dwindle due to the shortage of vehicles coming out of Japan in the wake of that country’s March 11 natural disasters.
Meanwhile, many makers have been trimming back incentives as the U.S. auto market begins to recover. But those cuts can be selective and there are still bargains to be had, analysts stress, on less popular products – or those facing significant competition.