What’s the Best New-Car Offer for June 2021?

Whether it’s checking online inventory or simply driving past your local dealerships and selling lots, there’s no denying that the number of new cars for sale has dropped amid an ongoing global microchip shortage and various aftereffects of the COVID-19 pandemic this past year. The demand for new vehicles in turn is driving prices up, which makes finding discounts on those new vehicles increasingly difficult.

Related: Car Shoppers Face Shorter Supply, Rising Prices

Demand is such that J.D. Power expected May’s average incentive spending per car to drop nearly $2,000 year over year, from $4,825 in 2020 to $2,957. It’s not just popular pickup trucks and SUVs, in other words — everything is getting snapped up right now.

But even in dire car-shopping times such as these, deals can be found if you know where to look. As we do every month, then, we’ve rounded up the best cash-back offers we came across that are valid through the end of June. If you’re interested in pure savings, keep reading for details on the deepest widely available discounts this month brings.

2021 Chevrolet Equinox

• Factory discount: $3,000 to $4,500, excluding base trim
• Approximate price after discounts: $25,000 to $41,500
• Approximate factory savings: 10%
• Offer ends: June 30

The Equinox remains in a holding pattern on a mid-cycle refresh originally intended for the 2021 model year but now delayed until 2022. Though its average days spent on selling lots dropped month over month through most of May, to 63 from April’s 67, it still significantly outlasted the overall 45-day average for all 2021 models over the same May span. Now through the end of June, Chevrolet is offering 10% off the LS, LT and Premier trims — but, as it’s been doing all year, not the base L trim. That almost certainly won’t affect your search, given the L continues to be nigh nonexistent in Cars.com inventory. Alternately, qualified shoppers can get 0% financing for up to 72 months; as with the cash-back offer, this also excludes the L trim.

2021 Chevrolet Trax

• Factory discount: $2,700 to $3,400
• Approximate price after discounts: $20,000 to $25,000
• Approximate factory savings: 12%
• Offer ends: June 30

Another regular to our monthly analysis of best deals is from Chevy’s Trax subcompact SUV, which hung around selling lots an average of 90 days through most of May. Through the end of the month, GM’s mass-market brand is offering 12% off both the base LS and uplevel LT trims, a significant drop from May’s 18% but still about as good as you’ll find in the current new-car market. And as with the Equinox, discount financing has returned as an alternative: Qualified shoppers can get 0% for up to 72 months.

Editor’s Choice: 2021 Buick Enclave

• Factory discount: $5,050
• Approximate price after discounts: $36,500 to $59,000
• Approximate factory savings: 8-12%
• Offer ends: June 30

With a new, refreshed Enclave on the way for 2022, discounts remain good for its immediate predecessor, which sat on dealer lots an average of 55 days through most of May. Now through the end of June, Buick is offering $5,050 off all variants of the 2021 model, including the top Avenir trim, in most markets we surveyed. Alternately, creditworthy shoppers can get 0% financing for up to 72 months in most markets. All such offers end June 30.

More From Cars.com:

• How to Win the Car Financing Game
• Understanding Factory-to-Dealer Incentives
• Glossary of Car Leasing Terms
• How Does Leasing a Car Work?
• We Bought a 2021 Ford F-150: Here’s How Much We Paid

How We Look for Deals

To look for June deals, we looked at days-to-sell data among the 100 bestselling models in May — specifically May 1-23, the window we gathered the data — which measures how long it takes on average for the selling dealer to move a given car. That illustrates slow sellers, cars on which dealers could be more willing to cut a deal. Then we looked at factory cash discounts and low-interest-rate financing offers that are especially high for the price of the car. After all, $4,000 is a lot more on a Ford Escape than a Ford Expedition.

We lead with cash deals available to shoppers at large, not those that require financing with the automaker or having certain qualifications (e.g., military or college-graduate discounts, loyalty or conquest bonuses, etc.). In calculating the overall percentage discount and pricing after incentives, we focus on the vehicle’s price range from the cheapest incentives-eligible trim level with no factory options to the priciest eligible trim with all factory options. We include the destination charge in such pricing, but we exclude a few other items: taxes and fees, which vary considerably by region, and dealer accessories, which vary considerably by automaker.

Because these are factory discounts, they should be available to all participating dealers. As such, use them as the starting point for negotiations, not a reason to skip haggling altogether.

Incentives data come from automakers’ websites, while days-to-turn data come from Cars.com inventory. Remember, our numbers are current as of publication for the markets we survey (generally Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles and New York). They reflect advertised customer discounts, not unadvertised factory-to-dealer cash. Discount financing typically requires qualifying credit, too, and incentives may vary by region and trim level; automakers may also change them later in the month. In sum: Your discounts may vary, so check with your local dealer for specifics.

Cars.com’s Editorial department is your source for automotive news and reviews. In line with Cars.com’s long-standing ethics policy, editors and reviewers don’t accept gifts or free trips from automakers. The Editorial department is independent of Cars.com’s advertising, sales and sponsored content departments.