SANTA MONICA, Calif. -

Though the inventory shortage has certainly caused some real issues for automakers, there is a bit of a silver lining, according to TrueCar’s Jesse Toprak.
Not only are OEMs spending less on incentives, but June transaction prices were the strongest of all time, Toprak said.

Thus, more profits.

“The upside to a lack of inventory on some vehicles is that incentives decreased, and transaction prices soared to the highest levels ever recorded — meaning stronger profits for automakers,” Toprak explained.

“The good news for consumers is as dealer inventory levels are replenished and supply levels return to normal, incentives will begin to increase, lowering transaction prices,” he added.

Overall, TrueCar estimated that U.S. new-vehicle transaction prices in June averaged $30,009. This marks almost a 3-percent year-over-year gain and edges out the May average by 0.8 percent.

Honda achieved the greatest year-over-year transaction price increase (up 5.3 percent), followed closely by Ford (up 5.2 percent). Month-over-month, Hyundai/Kia and Chrysler tied for the top increase (up 1.6 percent), with Nissan in third (up 1.5 percent).

All seven of the largest seven OEMs saw their transaction prices climb from June 2010 and from May.

Incentive Spending Drops

Moving along, TrueCar also spotlighted some trends in monthly incentive spending.

The firm believes that automakers spent almost 20 percent less than they did per vehicle in June 2010, estimating the per-vehicle incentive average to be $2,300 for the past month. The last time incentives were that low was October 2005. 

The June figure is down 0.2 percent compared to May.

Breaking it down further, all seven major OEMs decreased average incentive spending from a year ago. The Big 3 and Hyundai/Kia also trimmed incentives from May, but the Japanese automakers (Honda, Toyota, Nissan) actually spent more sequentially.

Toyota made a 9.3-percent increase, Nissan spent 7.8-percent more and Honda was up 4.5 percent.

“The Japanese automakers rebounded from slower sales this month as inventory levels improved and generous incentive offers have kept them from losing loyal customers," shared Kristen Andersson, automotive analyst at TrueCar.

“Despite the relative increase in incentives from Toyota, they still have the lowest average transaction price to incentive ratio, but they may need to be more aggressive in coming months to regain lost market share,” she continued.