Financials

New-vehicle incentives are rising rapidly, but unlike cut-throat markets of the past, sales remain tepid, and the combination is cutting more deeply than ever into manufacturers' revenue especially among the Detroit Three auto makers. In the year's first nine months, the average vehicle price in the U.S. fell 2.3% to $27,721 from $28,371 in like-2007, according to sales forecasting and analysis group

byJames M. Amend, Senior Editor