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Car brands that lack new designs will likely see some price discounting in the early months of 2011.
The midsize sedan and SUV segments will face the most intense price pressures.
Competition in the midsize sedan segment is largely due to Hyundai's aggressive leasing and pricing on its all-new and well-reviewed Sonata, as well as the fact that many models in the segment are deep into their product cycles.
The midsize SUV and Minivan segments will be other segments where we should see fluid pricing conditions in the coming months.
Thanks to all-new or significantly refreshed models in the midsize SUV class, prices are projected to go down for the segment's longer-in-the-tooth competitors, such as the Nissan Pathfinder.
In the minivan segment, with the recent redesigns of both the Honda Odyssey and Toyota Sienna, it's predicted that price pressure will increase on Chrysler and Dodge brand minivans, which are the segment's volume leaders.
In the early portions of the New Year, price trends for hybrids and electric vehicles will be going in opposite directions.
A continuing small buyer base and unusually stable and low gasoline prices mean there will be downward price pressure for premium-brand hybrids such as Ford's 2011 Lincoln MKZ Hybrid and Toyota's 2011 Lexus HS 250h.
Meanwhile, buyers shouldn't expect anything but firm pricing on the latest high-tech electric vehicles such as the Nissan Leaf and GM's Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid.
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