The three major Detroit automakers – GM, Ford and Chrysler – have come up with a new strategy for pricing cars. These companies are pushing through very large price increases on the 2005 models, even though the 2004, 2003 and 2002 models did not sell very well. In fact, these companies are raising the prices of vehicles AND increasing incentives. That is because there is a percentage of car buyers who purchase strictly on emotion. These people do no homework and they get caught up in the thrill of driving a new vehicle. The car market is basically splitting into three categories: people who do no research, people who do some research on the Internet and get a somewhat better price, and finally those people who do lots of homework. The third group treats buying a car like a part time job, but it’s a very small percentage of the pot. Automakers realize that only about 10 percent of buyers will really work for a good deal. So they can still mark up vehicles and increase their profit margins. Remember that knowledge is power!