RALEIGH, N.C., Dec. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — It’s that time of the year again, when people are thinking about gifts they might give during the holiday season. The holiday commercials start, and with those commercials are the car company ads depicting people buying cars as gifts for their loved ones. But how often does that really happen?
The automaker that could claim bragging rights to creating the concept of a vehicle as a holiday gift is Lexus, which debuted the “December to Remember” campaign in 1999. Lexus says that in 1998, December ranked 10th out of the year for monthly sales. In 2000, December ranked as first.
That effect isn’t limited to Lexus. As our chart shows, December sales for all cars in the U.S. were higher than the monthly average for that year in all but two years between 2005 and 2021.
While those sales can’t necessarily be attributed to people buying cars as gifts, sources told Automoblog that a significant number of the cars sold at their dealerships were bought as presents. One source estimated that the portion of sales during the holiday season that were intended as gifts was “a double-digit percentage.”
However, Automoblog does not recommend giving a car as a gift, given the myriad financial implications and personal choices to consider. With interest rates and car prices currently at record highs, the automotive media outlet says that this year especially is not a good time for most people to gift a new vehicle.
Automoblog is an online automotive resource that helps people make informed decisions about cars and car ownership. To learn more about the publication, click here.
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SOURCE Automoblog
