Average Automotive Net Price Drops to Record Low Compared to Average MSRP, According to Edmunds.com

SANTA MONICA, Calif., July 29 -- The average automotive net price -- new vehicle transaction prices adjusted for incentives -- was $23,907 in June 2003, 16.4% below the average sticker price of $28,587, according to Edmunds.com ( http://www.edmunds.com/ ), the premier online resource for automotive information. In May 20, 200303, the average net price was 15.9% below sticker, and in June 2002 the average net price was 14% below.

"Despite manufacturer resistance to the release of certain industry data such as net prices, Edmunds.com is in the unique position of both having the data and believing in the value of making it transparent to all interested parties," stated Jeremy Anwyl, President of Edmunds.com. "In recent years, Edmunds.com has established itself as the leader in collecting and analyzing vehicle transaction data for consumer and industry applications by building an extensive staff of PhDs, statisticians and other experts who analyze the most robust and representative sales transaction data using sophisticated statistical models."

Domestic manufacturers averaged a net price of 20.6% below sticker, while Korean, Japanese and European manufacturers averaged 12.8%, 10% and 7.7% below sticker, respectively.

Oldsmobile, Chevrolet and Pontiac had average net prices at the lowest level compared to their vehicles' MSRPs, while HUMMER, MINI and Scion averaged net prices closest to sticker.

"Automakers introduced higher priced vehicles and raised their MSRPs on their existing vehicles over the past year, resulting in a 5% increase in average sticker prices," said Dr. Jane Liu, Executive Director of Data Analysis for Edmunds.com. "Their goal was to offset the financial burden of hefty incentives -- but it simply hasn't translated to similar increases in net prices, which went up only 2.2%."

From May to June 2003 the Edmunds.com New Vehicle Price Index edged up only 0.1% to 97.2 (base = 100 set in January 2002). June 2003's index was 0.3% percent lower than that of June 2002. Luxury cars had the biggest increase during the past month at 1.4%, followed by sport cars and large cars, both of which increased 1.3%. Large trucks, large SUVs and midsize cars also posted gains. Compact cars had the most significant decline at 1.0%, while minivans and midsize SUVs also went down.

This data was released today with the Edmunds Price Index for new vehicles (EPI-N), which reflects price shifts for the industry as a whole, and can be analyzed by different market segmentation. Similar to the Consumer Price Index, the EPI-N measures the average changes in retail prices for a fixed basket of new vehicles with fixed options over time for the purpose of trend analysis. Edmunds.com also analyzes transaction prices and net prices by country of origin, manufacturer, make and model, reflecting manufacturer-to-consumer rebates, including low APR and special lease programs.

About Edmunds.com, Inc.

Edmunds.com ( http://www.edmunds.com/ ) is the premier online resource for automotive information. Its comprehensive set of data, tools and services, including Edmunds.com True Market Value(R) pricing, is generated by Edmunds Data Services and is licensed to third parties. For example, the company supplies over 800,000 pages of content for the auto sections of AOL and NYTimes.com, provides weekly data to Automotive News and delivers monthly data reports to Wall Street analysts. Edmunds.com was named "best car research" site by Forbes ASAP, is viewed by consumers as the "most useful Web site" according to the J.D. Power and Associates New Autoshopper.com Studies(SM) for both 2001 and 2002, and was ranked first in the Survey of Car-Shopping Web Sites as reported by The Wall Street Journal. The company is headquartered in Santa Monica, California and maintains a satellite office in Troy, Michigan.