- Average new car prices rose to $48,883 in May, up 0.5 percent overall.
- Inventories are falling again, hitting 2.47 million units by early June.
- Jaguar and Audi have more than 120 days of unsold new vehicle inventory.
New car prices are creeping upward, but not in the dramatic fashion many predicted. Despite all the noise surrounding tariffs and market instability, most buyers haven’t felt the full impact. At least not yet.
It had been widely assumed that President Trump’s tariffs would lead to almost immediate and significant price increases across the automotive industry, but recent figures show there have only been minor price hikes up until now in terms of MSRPs.
Read: Top 20 Used Cars Seeing The Biggest Price Drops
However, before diving into the data, it’s important to acknowledge the ongoing volatility in U.S. tariff policy. In recent months, the administration has seesawed between easing certain country-specific measures and tightening others. The result is continued uncertainty, with no clear direction in sight.
On top of that, as we recently reported, while MSRPs have only inched upward, dealers are sneakily tacking on various additional fees, that don’t always show up in pricing studies.
Modest Price Hikes, Mixed Strategies
With that out of the way, let’s look at the numbers. Data from Cox Automotive reveals that the average new vehicle listing price at the end of May increased to $48,883. This was a 0.5% rise from April and is 3.2% higher than May last year. While some brands have increased prices, others are still keeping prices steady. A few companies are abandoning incentives and increasing fees, impacting the overall industry average.
The average transaction price of new vehicles across the US sat at $48,799 in May. This was just a $100 increase month over month and up just 1% from the same time last year. Cox believes that whoever “blinks first” in widespread price hikes “will be the guinea pig on how much the market will bear in increased pricing.”
Inventory Slips, Supply Ticks Up
Industry data also reveals that inventories continue to fall, hitting approximately 2.47 million as of June 2. This represented a fall of 0.6% from the 2.49 million units at the start of May and was down 12.2% from a year ago. By comparison, the average supply of new vehicles has risen to 70 days, up from 67 at the end of April.
Several carmakers have well over this average supply of new vehicles. Over the past year or so, brands under the Stellantis umbrella generally had the biggest inventory, but things have improved. Now, the carmaker with the most inventory is Jaguar, at more than double the industry average. Audi is not far behind with 126 days’ worth of supply, ahead of Land Rover at 114 days, Hyundai at 112 days, Ram at 109 days, Mazda at 107 days, and Volkswagen at 100 days.
On the other end, brands like Toyota and Lexus remain lean, with supplies lasting 29 and 30 days, respectively. Honda comes in at 45 days, and BMW is also keeping things tight with 59 days of inventory.
