Car prices have been on a steep rise, and for new car buyers who may not have been following the market closely, the shift in the industry can be particularly daunting. By examining vehicle values over the past five years, the stark changes that have taken place in the industry become apparent.
Over the last five years, sales of new vehicles with an MSRP of less than $25,000 shrank by 78 percent, according to data gathered by Cox Automotive. Sales of vehicles with an MSRP of more than $60,000 – higher than the average American’s annual income – rose by 163 percent, meanwhile.
Starker still, in 2017 Americans could pick from 36 models with MSRPs lower than $25,000, and these models accounted for nearly 13 percent of all new vehicle sales. In 2022, that number has fallen to just 10 models for buyers to pick from.
Read: New Car Prices Surge 30% Since 2019 As Automakers Prioritize Lean Inventory And Profits
As you might expect, sales have fallen to just four percent of the market, with total sales decreasing from more than 200,000 in December 2017, to just 43,557 in December 2022.
In the same timeframe, the options for buyers looking at vehicles with an MSRP of more than $60,000 have exploded. In 2017, there were 61 models that cost more than that, but they totaled for just 122,864 sales in the month of December.
Five years later, there are 90 unique models whose MSRP is more than $60,000 and, with sales of more than 323,368 in the last month of the year, they accounted for more than a quarter of all new vehicle sales.
Indeed, the last five years have been marked by attempts to drag automotive brands upmarket, with everyone from Mazda to Buick to Jeep selling larger vehicles with more luxurious amenities and tech. While that makes for some exciting new models, it has also led the market to become increasingly unaffordable.
