New cars are selling a little faster than they used to, but this is largely supported by the only cars people can actually afford: cars that cost less than $25,000. Overall, new cars spend 73 days at the dealer, but cars costing less than $25,000 only spend a day and a half at the dealer before being snatched. That’s a blistering pace.
While U.S. new vehicle inventories actually fell 1.6% year-over-year to 3.09 million units in November, that 73-day inventory is actually a slight increase over October’s 70-day inventory, according to Automotive News. An important reason for this may be electric vehicles. The $7,500 federal EV tax credit is dead, and it has kept EVs on dealer lots even longer than they already have been. Now the supply is up to 126 days – 19 more than a month ago. This is all evident from data from Lotlinx, a data company for dealers.
When it comes to non-EV powertrains, the numbers are much more favorable. Automakers started December with a 60-day supply of hybrids (up from 57) and a 75-day supply of gas-powered cars (up from 72). Market segments also play a major role. Minivan inventories were clearly the tightest at just 58 days. That was followed by sedans at 60 days, SUVs at 73 days and pickup trucks at 80 days.
When you look at all seven automakers that actually report monthly sales figures, Toyota was by far the leanest company. In November, the company only had a 31-day inventory, which is honestly so impressive considering how many vehicles it builds every day.
Pay to play
It doesn’t take much brain genius to realize why cheap cars are in such high demand. From where I sit, it’s a twofold situation. The first is quite simple: people are broke. Just because someone doesn’t have the required $50,000 average to spend on a brand new car doesn’t mean they don’t want one. People may still want a warranty and all the other nice things that come with a new car, regardless of price. That is why they massively choose the cheapest possible option. The second part of this equation is the fact that there aren’t many cars for sale under $25,000 right now.
According to Cars.comthere are only nine cars for sale in the US that cost less than $25,000 when destination fees are included. They are the Toyota Corolla ($24,715), Hyundai Elantra ($24,615), Kia K4 ($24,380), Nissan Kicks Play ($24,300), Nissan Sentra ($24,180), Kia Soul (rest in piss for $23,380), Chevy Trax ($23,290), Hyundai Venue ($23,190) and Nissan Versa ($21,680).
This means there are some pretty slim choices if you’re a buyer who wants to buy a new car but doesn’t really have the cash to buy something terribly expensive. I also don’t expect things to get better in 2026. We already know that the Soul is (thankfully) dead before 2026, and I’m assuming at least a few of these cars will see price hikes that take them above $25,000. It’s gloomy out there, man.
#Cheap #cars #sell #fast #Jalopnik