We like to define the invoice price as the price the dealership pays the manufacturer for a car. Ideally, the invoice price should be the actual cost of the car, but that is not the case. Car manufacturers offer incentives to dealerships which make the invoice price insignificant in some cases. You may have heard someone brag that they received a car at invoice price, but that isn't necessarily a good thing. Dealer holdback inflates the invoice price, and dealerships may also receive other cash incentives depending on the car manufacturer and specific model sold. More on dealer holdback.
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