When I was looking at the FX, I gave them my spam-bucket email address. Interesting, twice in the last few weeks they've sent these discounts. Note that een the Q45 is cut to the bone. The FX45 by $4000 (but not the more appealing version with "Technology" package) and while no Volvo gets a cut, Acura and Lexus aren't selling.
It's a cold, hard world out there.

INFINITI
2003 Q45 ~ $5,500. Off of MSRP
2003 FX45 ~ $4,000. Off of MSRP*
2003 FX35 ~ $3,000 off of MSRP*
* Excludes "TEC" packages

VOLVO

ACURA
2003 MDX ~ No dealer mark-up 15 in stock
LEXUS
2003 RX300 SPORT LUXURY $6,000. Off of MSRP
2003 GX470 SPORT UTILITY $1,000. Off of MSRP

PLEASANTON AUTOMALL INTERNET DEPARTMENT
4345 Rosewood Drive
Pleasanton, California 94588
<a href="http://www.pleasantonauto.com" target="_blank">www.pleasantonauto.com</a>

 

So far I have not been offered any discount or even good lease deals for the GX 470 I am thinking of getting...

My friend just bought the Volvo truck and got zero off...

Time is on my side...got till June 16th...

Mark

 

i was looking at Ford Pick up trucks yesterday. my local dealer is cutting deals of $6,500 on some of the less sexy trucks at SUVs on the lot...

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Originally posted by controlit:
<strong>So far I have not been offered any discount or even good lease deals for the GX 470 I am thinking of getting...

My friend just bought the Volvo truck and got zero off...

Time is on my side...got till June 16th...

Mark</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana,Tahoma,Helvetica">Right on both counts, as far as I can tell. The Volvo XC90 is a success, albeit on a small production run and with a pent up demand for a brand selling a bullseye into its target customer demographic. Any Porsche driver taking a Volvo for a demo drive is sure to leave the dealership and take a second look at the Cayenne. The Volvo is starting to show it's "Ford"-ness ... let's just hope Lamborghini never shows it's "VW"-ness ...

Why have you chosen the GX470?

Just type GX-470 into Google (http://www.google.com/search?q=Lexus+gx470+gx-470) and you'll get a bunch of listings for places offering discounts. I'd also check cars.com autotrader.com etc.

Edmunds has a good review, <a href="http://www.edmunds.com/new/2003/lexus/gx470/100197200/review.html" target="_blank">http://www.edmunds.com/new/2003/lexus/gx470/100197200/review.html</a>

 

Carrera GT,

I don't think you can look at email SPAM as being a good indicator of the market, Infiniti sales of the FX series have been quite good to date and Infiniti's sales overall have skyrocketed since last year in part due to the G35 Sedan and Coupe and the FX35/45. In fact, March is the end of the sales calendar year for Infiniti so dealerships are trying to close as many deals as possible before April 1, so now is a good time to buy that FX45 to have a "performance" SUV.

I'm sure the market is down somewhat overall due to the war and other factors, I'm not trying to suggest it isn't and I don't have sales figures for Lexus, etc. but did want to point out that an email to you from a single dealership shouldn't be extrapolated to market conditions as a whole, of course you may have other information that you have not presented here.

 

After surveying some Infiniti dealers, Autospies is reporting in their latest issue that the FX45 is selling extremely well (although the FX35 is not in as great demand).

 

I read the autospies comment on the FX (and I'm surprised to see the FX35 isn't doing well ... it's a brilliant product for the price) but it seems the comments there are dated. I know from my own experiences that in the first weeks of availability, the FX45 sold the instant it arrived at the local dealerships (only the bright red colour would sit around and then only for a week or two) but now it seems that the FX has settled into the market. It seems that Infiniti, with the Q35 at least, is at the beginning of the process for earning brand value in the market. It might take a few years and for the time being, it will sell closer to invoice than MSRP, but it seems to me that Nissan has finally hit on the right products to execute on its "beat BMW" game plan for its prestige brand.
The local dealer offering the discount is one of the larger franchise groups (covering all the luxury european brands) and it seems they're selling of '03 cars in anticipation of '04 cars (I called and that's their story) plus the FX discount pertains to the FX35 (apparently it is not appealing to customers in that price range and the Lexus RX330 continues to control that segment ... I dunno) and to FX45 cars without the "Technology" package (DVD player, rearview camera etc.) which appears to be a matter of popularity rather than price.
I still think that, at invoice, an FX35 makes for a sensational entry-level luxury mid-size crossover SUV. I have to wonder if the "concept car" styling is the problem.

Adam

 

Carrera GT,

You might want to check on the Inventory and shipment levels at Infiniti. Dealership received extra cars in late February and throughout March in the FX product line in an attempt to load up dealerships prior to the end of their fiscal year (end of March) so that might also account for why you are seeing a few more on dealership lots. I agree the FX35 is an excellent value as is the 45 if you want a V8, but checking with sales patterns at dealerships indicates that there is no discernable pattern yet, one week FX45's sell well, the next week 35's sell well for apparently no rhyme or reason yet. The FX45s with Tech package have been selling well because early adopters of the FX, people who were waiting on them, tend to buy the top of the line models. I wonder if the same holds true for the Cayenne, will more Turbos be sold up front than later in the year?