But both cars are carrying substantial buyer incentives.

Domestic automobile sales declined 14.8 percent in the first 10 days of March, despite higher buyer incentives.

"Jeeps are up 53 percent for the period, even though we dropped buyer incentives on most of them last month," he said.

Thanks largely to generous buyer incentives, sales accelerated 17 percent in the first three months, but profits remained flat.

The three other American auto makers follow suit, and buyer incentives become a fixture of the car business.

Domestic car sales rose 12.1 percent in early August, bolstered by buyer incentives.

That would create pressure for a further sweetening of buyer incentives.

That suggests a new round of buyer incentives is in the offing for the fall.

He said the Japanese had so far resisted putting buyer incentives on their cars because they wanted to avoid admitting weakness.

The company said it spent approximately $1,200 in buyer incentives for every vehicle it sold.