(December 24, 2014) SANTA MONICA, Calif. — It's no secret that the final week of every month is a busy time for car shopping, but it's especially so in December, according to Edmunds.com. Edmunds predicts the week between Christmas and New Year's will be the busiest car shopping time of the year, and that leasing will hit an all-time high.

Tagging the week "New Car, New Year," Edmunds projects that new car sales will be 78 percent higher than the average week earlier in December, while typically the last week of any month averages just 40 percent higher than the sales in earlier weeks.

The company also noted that December is typically one of the most popular months for luxury car shopping, thanks in part to all of the marketing messages presented by some of the higher end brands looking to close out the older model year inventory.

"The final week of the year, between Christmas and New Year's, is a particularly exciting time for car shoppers," said Philip Reed, senior consumer advice editor at Edmunds. "As the dealers look to sell the last of their 2014 model year vehicles, car shoppers will have the opportunity to choose from a wide range of cars at affordable prices."

To help consumers navigate the ins and outs of shopping for and purchasing new vehicles this month, and making their "New Car, New Year" dreams a reality, Edmunds' consumer advice editors have crafted a series of insider tips and tricks to ensure shoppers can land the car of their dreams. These tips include:

    • Save big with 2014 vehicles. Edmunds.com projects that year-end incentives and rebates will save shoppers an average of 10% off the MSRP for 2014 model year vehicles, compared to 6% off MSRP for 2015 model vehicles. So, if you shop for 2014 model year vehicles, you can save almost twice as much as you would if you shopped for 2015 model year vehicles.

    • Go mobile. Shoppers can use their smartphones to research and lock in pricing before arriving at the dealership. Check out Edmunds.com's app with its Lot Buddy feature to check pricing options while on the dealership lot.

    • Shop through the Internet Department. Using the Internet Department, car-shoppers can compare quotes and even set up a test-drive and lock in instant pricing once they've found the best deal. In addition, using tools such as Edmunds.com's Price Promise expedites the process and lets car shoppers compare quotes faster.

    • Get pre-approved financing. By working with a bank or credit union, car shoppers can get their credit score, find out what interest rate they qualify for and have a loan in hand before hitting the dealerships. However, in many cases dealer financing can and will beat the pre-approved rate.