Toyota will post a nearly $5 billion loss this year, the first in its history. So the company is in crisis mode, and looking everywhere for ways to enhance the bottom line.

One result: while Toyota’s sticker prices are generally unchanged, its cars’ invoice prices–the amount dealers pay for the cars–have been bumped by one percent of MSRP–$250 on a vehicle that lists for $25,000. Since invoice prices are much more than basis of actual transaction prices than are the sticker prices, this is essentially a price increase that is not evident to the public–what I like to call a “hidden car price increase.”

Even after the bump, Toyota dealers enjoy wider margins than others. So this won’t be the last such increase from Toyota.