Revived inventories and incentives have held down new-vehicle prices, the average U.S. price flat year-over-year in August.
Cox Automotive said dealers and automakers are feeling price pressures with high interest rates and increased supplies, so “new-vehicle prices seem to have hit a ceiling, at least for now.”
Acknowledging that a United Auto Workers strike could affect inventories anew for some product lines, Cox Research Manager Rebecca Rydzewski nevertheless said a short strike shouldn’t significantly impact consumer prices “at least in the near term.”
August’s average new-vehicle transaction price was $48,451, up less than 1% year-over-year, said Cox, which pointed out that’s down 2.4% from the start of the year. Average incentives rose for the 11th straight month to about 5% of the average price, up from 2.3% a year earlier.
Luxury prices fell 3.3% year-over-year to just over $64,000 as segment leader Tesla continued price cuts, Cox said, while the average nonluxury price was essentially flat at $44,827.
