The average new car buyer in June paid $48,644 — just $266 more than in May and $307 lower than in June 2023.
Incentives — the discounts dealers and factories advertise to lure buyers — fell in June, preventing prices from dropping. Discounts made up 6.4% of the average transaction last month, down from 6.7% in May.
That change comes despite many automakers carrying high inventory levels. Land Rover, Porsche, and Toyota were among the brands with the lowest incentives in June. At the higher end, Audi, Infiniti, Nissan, and VW were among the most generous.
Incentives tend to rise in unison as automakers compete with one another. At the moment, they’re resisting the urge.
“As we head into the back half of the year, we are seeing that automakers are showing real discipline on pricing,” said Cox Automotive Executive Analyst Erin Keating. “Even brands holding onto more days’ supply, like many Stellantis brands, are keeping incentive spend in check. In June, Jeep increased to 6.3% – still below industry average – from 5.3%, and Ram actually declined to 5.5% from 6.3%. There appears to be a real effort to hold the line out there.”
Cox Automotive owns Kelley Blue Book.
Many Shopping for More Affordable Models; Trucks Pull Average Up
A $46,644 average doesn’t mean you have to pay that much. “Nearly half of the market sells for well below average,” Keating says.
In June, 40% of vehicles were sold for below $40,000, and 26% were sold for between $30,000 and $40,000. Last month, five of the top 10 sellers — the Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, Toyota Camry, Honda Civic, and Chevrolet Trax — sold for under $40,000 on average.
The three best-selling vehicles in America are full-size trucks. Their prices often rival luxury cars, pushing the average cost up. In June, the Ford F-150 sold for an average of $67,443 — nearly a third more than its price just five years ago.
EV Prices Have Bounced
Electric car prices increased in June after months of declines. The average electric vehicle (EV) buyer paid $56,371 last month — about 1% more than in May. EV prices remain 2.5% lower than a year ago.
Prices for Tesla’s best-selling Model Y and Model 3 stayed relatively steady in June. However, the company sold more than 3,200 Cybertruck EVs at an average price of over $100,000 each, increasing the overall EV price for the month.
Americans bought a record 330,0000 EVs in the second quarter.
