Toyota and Honda Incentives War May be Next Year

A string of bad luck this year starting with the March Japan earthquake has caused severe part shortages, causing inventory levels to plummet.

With fewer inventory to choose from, consumers have either held off buying or have chosen competing brands, hurting sales considerably.

Toyota and Honda had been gearing up for a year-end incentives war, but that's out of the question now.

Honda has had to cut production in half and delay the release of the 2012 Honda CR-V by several weeks.

Both manufacturers won't be back to full production again until early next year.

The good news: If you don't mind waiting, the incentives war looks like it may occur in the first quarter of next year - and this one may be even bigger than what was planned for this year.

Toyota and Honda are desperate to gain back market share, and the longer they suffer with shortages, the more it will take to win back customers.

We won't be surprised if they offer the largest incentives in their history sometime early next year.

But, keep in mind no one knows for sure what's in store. You can still get a good deal right now, but if you have the luxury of waiting, we recommend doing so.