US carmakers continue to lose share of market
Even with offers of 0% financing, US carmakers have not been able to stop the defection of owners to Asian cars, according to this New York Times story (registration required):
The domestic carmakers are failing to attract committed import buyers or to keep their own customers from defecting. Only 12 percent of customers who have purchased Detroit's vehicles this year were replacing a Japanese or European vehicle, according to data from AutoPacific Inc., an industry forecasting firm in Tustin, Calif. By contrast, 43 percent of people purchasing Japanese vehicles, and 32 percent of those buying European models, were replacing an American vehicle.
...In all, Detroit carmakers are spending an average of $3,764 a vehicle, or 14 percent of the selling price, on all manner of incentives, according to CNW Marketing Research, a firm in Bandon, Ore. That is twice as rich as the average deal on Japanese and Korean brands. And plenty of imports, including Lexuses and most BMW's, are selling well without any incentives at all.
[In contrast] Toyota, which has offered zero percent financing in some parts of the country, averaged $2,209 a car in incentives last month, while Honda spent $1,577. Yet over the course of the year, Toyota has built its market share three-tenths of a percentage point, to 10.4 percent of United States sales. Honda also has added three-tenths of a percentage point, giving it 7.3 percent of the market.