--- title: Carmakers Are Desperate to Move 2025 Models. Here’s How to Cash In description: December remains the top month for new car bargains as dealers push sales goals, offer incentives and discount outgoing 2025 models. authors: - name: Pete Grieve role: Lead News Reporter url: https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/ bio: Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. In his time at Money, Pete has covered everything from car buying to credit cards to the housing market. education: University of Chicago, BA Political Science at_money_since: 2022 articles: 600 covers: - Shopping - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Taxes social: - https://twitter.com/pete_grieve - https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138 - https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4 editors: - name: Katherine Peach role: Associate Editor url: https://money.com/author/katherine-peach/ bio: Katherine Peach is an associate editor with a focus on news and email at Money. She didn’t always intend to write about money. She’s a classically trained pianist who dreamed of becoming an archaeologist. However, in 2007 Katherine began working in financial publishing as an editor for Agora Inc. (Apparently, unearthing ideas about improving your personal finances isn’t such a bad career alternative!) Katherine’s writing and editing work has been featured in Investing Daily, Clever, Investor Junkie, The Palm Beach Letter, Truth & Plenty, Independence Monthly, NICHE, AmericanStyle, AntiqueWeek, Millennial Money, Money Done Right, TheStreet, Sure Dividend and many others. Katherine holds a Bachelor of Arts in Ancient Studies with concentrations in Archaeology and Ancient Languages and a minor in Literature from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa. education: University of Maryland, Baltimore County at_money_since: 2025 articles: 14 covers: - Shopping - Banking - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Federal Reserve Rate Cuts - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Taxes published: '2025-12-29T21:14:26.000Z' modified: '2026-01-12T14:51:33.000Z' section: Shopping tags: - News word_count: 495 canonical: https://money.com/best-december-car-deals/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![A couple looking excitingly at a new car with a giant red bow on top.](https://img.money.com/2025/12/News-Is-December-Best-Month-New-Car.jpg) December is traditionally considered the best month to buy a new vehicle, and industry experts predict that the trend will continue this year. The reason is simple: Dealerships scrambling to hit quarterly or annual sales goals tend to offer the steepest discounts. That makes December a sweet spot for car shoppers. The last week of the year, in particular, is often said to be the [best week](https://www.usatoday.com/story/cars/shopping/new-cars/2025/11/28/black-friday-best-car-deals/87507591007/) to capitalize on a good deal. Dealers run holiday car sales events around the Christmas and New Year holidays. These promotions often give shoppers a choice between cash back or subsidized financing. Jenni Newman, editor-in-chief at Cars.com, notes that automakers often go all-out with advertising for promotions like Lexus's "December to Remember" sale. They use these events to try to motivate shoppers. The biggest obstacle for shoppers is still price. New car costs have inched higher following the implementation of auto tariffs. The average new car now costs $49,766, according to Kelley Blue Book. Experts say if you need a new car, late December could be the best time to buy. However, to find a great deal, you have to know where to look — and you may need to be open to 2025 models, which dealerships are eager to sell as winter approaches. ***Deal of the Week: [AARP Year Subscription for Just $15](https://money.com/pr/q11022f27ca6?data-trk-company=aarp-review&data-trk-imp=true&data-trk-pcu-type=direct_link&data-trk-pcu-uuid=q11022f27ca6&encoded_id=)*** "We see a lot of incentives across the board as automakers are looking to move those older model years off the lots," Newman tells Money. "Shoppers should definitely look into those opportunities." ## How to find a deal on a new car in December In the new car market, the end of *any* quarter is typically a good time to shop. Salespeople facing end-of-quarter targets may be more flexible on price than at other times of the year. And if you have a trade-in, they may give you a more generous offer. Experts stress that deals in December will vary by brand. Charlie Chesbrough, chief economist at Cox Automotive, tells *USA Today*, "I would expect those brands with abundant inventory (Stellantis) will have to lean in with some good offers. But I wouldn't expect much from those brands in short supply, like Toyota or Honda." Newman suggests looking at vehicles that are being discontinued, such as the Subaru Legacy or the Acura TLX, for potentially larger discounts. "These are vehicles that automakers have decided not to move forward with," she says. "There could be opportunities for good deals there as well." ***Extra Money: [See how you can get up to $1,000 in stock when you fund a new active SoFi invest account](https://money.com/pr/x00f9061e638)*** [Auto loan](https://money.com/best-auto-loan-rates/) conditions are also improving as the Federal Reserve cuts rates, which indirectly affects car lending. Car shoppers with high credit scores were eligible for 0% financing offers on more than 40 cars last quarter, according to [RealCarTips.com](https://www.realcartips.com/news/1051-best-finance-deals.shtml). Additional discounting later in the month should help more shoppers find vehicles they can afford. "There are definitely deals to be had," Newman says. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/best-december-car-deals/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Shopping", "item": "https://money.com/shopping/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "News", "item": "https://money.com/tag/news/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Carmakers Are Desperate to Move 2025 Models. Here’s How to Cash In" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/best-december-car-deals/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/best-december-car-deals/", "name": "Carmakers Are Desperate to Move 2025 Models. Here’s How to Cash In", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2025-12-29T21:14:26.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/best-december-car-deals/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/best-december-car-deals/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2026-01-12T14:51:33.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Carmakers Are Desperate to Move 2025 Models. Here’s How to Cash In", "articleSection": "Shopping", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2025/12/News-Is-December-Best-Month-New-Car.jpg", "width": 2560, "height": 1707, "caption": "News-Is-December-Best-Month-New-Car" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pete Grieve", "url": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/#author", "description": "Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. In his time at Money, Pete has covered everything from car buying to credit cards to the housing market.", "image": "https://img.money.com/2023/02/peter.png?w=350&h=430&crop=1", "email": "peter.grieve@money.com", "jobTitle": "Lead News Reporter", "alumniOf": "University of Chicago, BA Political Science", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/pete_grieve", "https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138", "https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4" ], "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2025-12-29T21:14:26.000Z", "description": "December remains the top month for new car bargains as dealers push sales goals, offer incentives and discount outgoing 2025 models.", "abstract": "December remains the top month for new car bargains as dealers push sales goals, offer incentives and discount outgoing 2025 models.", "@id": "https://money.com/best-december-car-deals/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2026-01-12T14:51:33.000Z", "editor": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Katherine Peach", "url": "https://money.com/author/katherine-peach/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/katherine-peach/#author", "description": "Katherine Peach is an associate editor with a focus on news and email at Money. She didn’t always intend to write about money. She’s a classically trained pianist who dreamed of becoming an archaeologist. However, in 2007 Katherine began working in financial publishing as an editor for Agora Inc. (Apparently, unearthing ideas about improving your personal finances isn’t such a bad career alternative!)\r\n\r\nKatherine’s writing and editing work has been featured in Investing Daily, Clever, Investor Junkie, The Palm Beach Letter, Truth & Plenty, Independence Monthly, NICHE, AmericanStyle, AntiqueWeek, Millennial Money, Money Done Right, TheStreet, Sure Dividend and many others.\r\n\r\nKatherine holds a Bachelor of Arts in Ancient Studies with concentrations in Archaeology and Ancient Languages and a minor in Literature from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa.", "jobTitle": "Associate Editor", "alumniOf": "University of Maryland, Baltimore County", "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "wordCount": 495, "keywords": [ "News" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Shopping", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopping" ] } ] } ] } ```