| The American economy is not as strong as | | | | Thus, even Honda, Toyota, Nissan, and BMW are also |
| Americans would want it to be. The housing problem | | | | offering incentives to consumers. In the past, these |
| still exists and the price of petroleum fuel is increasing. | | | | automakers offer these incentives only to few |
| On top of this, the government looks to be in a locked | | | | vehicles. Today though, the situation calls for drastic |
| mode, just watching the action between presidential | | | | measures and automakers are forced to offer popular |
| candidates. | | | | nameplates with incentives. |
| Thus, consumers are left off to cope up with the | | | | BMW, the German luxury automaker seems to have |
| increasing price of commodities on their own. | | | | no trouble last year in keeping up with the sales goal |
| Automakers are aware of this and they are also | | | | that they have set. Last month though, the automaker |
| aware that the demand for new vehicles is still there, | | | | announced that they would be cutting down on |
| the problem is that people are not as interested | | | | production cost. It is expected that their R&D arm will |
| anymore due to financial concerns. | | | | take most of the blow. |
| The answer of automakers is to tighten up their belts | | | | This apparent trouble inside the German automaker |
| and offer incentives to consumers. These incentives | | | | looks to be more apparent today. The automaker is |
| come in different forms depending on the automaker. | | | | offering a $369 monthly lease for the popular BMW 3 |
| The Big Three, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler, | | | | Series. Consumers who have been thinking about |
| have seen their market share dwindling thus they are | | | | buying a BMW but were worried about the increasing |
| the most aggressive when it comes to offering | | | | price of petroleum fuel and the high price of prestigious |
| discounts to consumers. | | | | car brands would consider this period to be the right |
| Japanese and European automakers though are also | | | | time to purchase a BMW. |
| feeling the pressure of the downturn in the economy. | | | | |