NEW-CAR BUYERS IN DRIVER'S SEAT.

Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Daily News Staff Writer

Consumers shopping for a new car this fall are in for a dose of sticker shock. But it won't be painful; in fact, they should leave the dealerships smiling and maybe with some cash in their pockets.

They will be reaping the benefits of a rare autumn buyer's market as automakers offer lucrative incentives on the last of the 1998 models and, on numerous lots, are slashing prices on new 1999 models just hitting showroom floors.

In some cases, even the new models come with incentives like cash back to stimulate sales. And on many showroom floors, comparable models of the same car will cost less this year than last.

Usually the reverse is true this time of year; the new models carry higher sticker prices with deep discounts relegated to the current leftover models.

``It's a great time to buy a vehicle,'' said Lincoln Merrihew, an analyst for Agoura Hills-based J.D. Power and Associates. ``Normally the best time to buy a vehicle is in a recession but now the economy is strong and we still have decreasing sticker prices and incentives.''

Several factors account for this buyer's market. Automakers are locked in a price war to snare market share while at the same time trying to stave off the impact that flailing foreign economies may have on sales.

``Right now there are huge incentives going,'' said Chris Sweeney, a sales manager at Vista Ford in Woodland Hills. ``There are rebates on new cars plus incentive financing. In the time I've been in the car business I've never seen rebates plus financing. You either got one or the other.''

Helping fuel the cost-cutting frenzy is the fact that manufacturers can turn out more vehicles than there is demand for and they have saved billions of dollars through cost-cutting at the factory and can pass some of those savings on to consumers without slicing into profits.

For example, some 1998 models from Ford Motor Co. come with a $1,000 rebate and financing as low as 0.9 percent. Nissan Motor Corp. U.S.A. is offering $2,000 cash back across the board on models from the current model year, though the offer expires at month's end.

``The market is unbelievably competitive,'' Chrysler Corp. Chairman Robert J. Eaton told the Associated Press. ``There's never been a period when incentives were this high and the economy and the market were as good as they are now.''

Steve Livingston, owner of Livingston Motor Car Co., a General Motors dealership in Woodland Hills, said this kind of competitive market tends to benefit consumers throughout the year.

``The deals that were traditionally better toward the latter part of the year are starting immediately. They (automakers) need to get market share immediately and they are not waiting,'' he said.

Two big foreign automakers on Wednesday announced price cuts or incentives.

Nissan Motor Corp. U.S.A. said prices on its popular Frontier and Sentra model will be about 5 percent less for the 1999 models than in 1998. Hyundai Motor America introduced what it called the ``best warranty in the automotive business,'' a five-year, 60,000-mile limited warranty plus a 10-year, 100,000-mile drivetrain warranty.

Nissan's price cut might be an attempt to wean consumers from the idea of incentives.

``In the past years we relied pretty heavily on incentives and this lower pricing is just a reflection of the fact we won't be using incentives as much,'' said company spokesman Kurt von Zumwalt.

THE FACTS

Here are some deals being offered by automakers:

Nissan Motor Corp. U.S.A. cut the price of its 1999 Frontier and Sentra models by 5 percent. The company also offers $2,000 cash rebates on 1998 models.

Ford Motor Co. offers 0.9 percent financing for 48 months and $1,000 cash back on the 1998 Ranger pickup truck, Escort and Contour models. Terms are 3.9 percent for a 60-month loan. The rebate for the Taurus is $750. The company also has priced the 1999 Taurus LX sedan $1,000 less than the 1998 model and the SE station wagon is $1,840 less. Both come with a $500 rebate.

The Audi A4 sedan's sticker price for 1999 is unchanged at $23,790 but the new model has keyless entry, a first-aid kit and lockable headrests, which were extras on the '98 model.

General Motors Corp. rebates range up to $5,000 on the 1998 Cadillac DeVille Concourse.

- Gregory J. Wilcox

CAPTION(S):

Photo

PHOTO (Color) Mario Salazar of Lancaster, left, talks with salesman Steve Paul about buying a truck at Vista Ford in Woodland Hills.

Evan Yee/Daily News