Prime Time LaCrosse price increases?

[DualSport]

I was at my local PTM dealer today to check out the possibility of trading my 2012 Lacrosse 301RLS for the new LaCrosse 324RST. I was shocked to find he wanted $22,000 PLUS my trailer to do a deal.

I purchased my 2012 301RLS in August 2012 (it was a new model on "clearout" for the soon-to-arrive 2013 models) and it's MSRP was about $38,500 but it included the free $4500 Touring Edition package. After some negotiation I paid about $27,000 (actually $20,000 PLUS my 2004 FR Surveyor which was worth about $7000 as a trade in).

The dealer said he was giving me a good trade in price of $23,000, but this made no sense as it meant he was charging me $45,000 for the 324RST. He claims the PTM prices have gone up a lot and the MSRP for the 324RST is $53,842 (which includes $1500 for Champagne Edition and zero for the Touring Edition $4500 package), so a discount to $43,000 was fair.

This is so way off from other LaCrosse prices I've seen at various dealers that I Googled it for confirmation but couldn't find any for sale. Seems the 324RST is very new and perhaps hasn't been shipped yet.

Has anyone experienced sticker shock at the 2014 prices? Is there in fact a big hike in PMT prices?

It would make some sense as PMT only started up in 2009, and has just announced they have built their 10,000th trailer. I would think they probably needed aggressive pricing to enter a depressed market in 2009 and have been so successful (they announced a few months back they are now the #2 Trailer company (based on TT plus 5th Wheel sales in Feb 2013) in the USA.

I think the Lacrosse 324RST is an attractive package - but it's NOT a $54,000 trailer in my opinion.

Bob