Nissan recently introduced new versions of the Murano and Armada, along with a special Rogue Rock Creek trim. Some dealers who attended a meeting were happy with the new products. But there’s a problem: dealers have too many cars in stock. Cox Automotive says Nissan dealers have about three months’ worth of cars, which is more than other carmakers in the U.S.
Now, Nissan is allowing dealers to advertise prices below the invoice. A memo from Nissan says dealers can advertise prices that are 10% below invoice for most 2024 vehicles, and 15% below for the Armada. This doesn’t mean dealers can sell the below invoice, just advertise it.
This is good news for buyers because they can see potential savings without going to the showroom. But dealers have some complaints. First, selling the below invoice means dealers lose money, not Nissan. Dealers want incentives and rebates from Nissan, but Nissan doesn’t want to give away cash to sell cars like it did before the pandemic.
Nissan wants to avoid repeating past mistakes when its models got old and it had to use rebates to sell them. Nissan had good sales numbers in March 2024, but its profit decreased slightly.
CEO Makoto Uchida wants to grow slowly with good products and business strategies. Nissan might want to see if better advertising increases sales before giving out incentives. Some dealers already sell below invoice, while others are happy to have more freedom to advertise their cars.
But selling the below invoice can lead to problems. It might make dealers push customers to buy more expensive cars to make up for the lost money. It can also create competition between dealers of the same brand, which can hurt their profits and how customers see them.
