Inexpensive cars are disappearing. Expensive cars are easy to find. If you haven’t been car shopping in five years or so, you may be shocked at the extent to which America’s new car market is aimed at high-income, good-credit buyers while everyone else is being squeezed out.
“They are now only three subcompact cars available to American car shoppers that cost less than $20,000.” In December 2017, automakers produced 36 models priced at $25,000 or less. Five years later, they built just 10. The move leaves just three subcompact cars available to American car shoppers: the Kia Rio 000270 , Nissan Versa NSANY , and Mitsubishi Mirage MMTOF . They are also the only three vehicles left on the market that cost less than $20,000 once delivery charges are added.The end of the low-priced car pushes low-income buyers out of the new car market and into the used car market. Those rebuilding their credit are being squeezed out, too.
Others wear the emblems of affordable automakers but are hardly affordable for most Americans. All three of America’s best-selling trucks, the Ford F F-150, Chevrolet Silverado, and Ram 1500, offer multiple trim levels with starting prices over the $60,000 line, and some can reach six figures with added options.Small signs of hope Last month, the final sale price of the average new car fell slightly. The cost of the average new vehicle remains near a record high — ending January at $49,388.