Why Are New Cars So Expensive in the US Now?

With affordability top of mind for US voters as November’s midterm elections approach, Republicans have been focusing attention on one of the most visible pain points for consumers: the price of a new car. The average figure broke $50,000 for the first time last September and hit $50,326 in December, according to the Kelley Blue Book car buying guide. Researcher Edmunds.com calculates that the average has risen 61% since 2010.

While incomes have grown over that period, too, they haven’t kept up. It took 36.2 weeks of average household income in the US to buy a new car at the end of 2025, a figure down from a pandemic peak but a few weeks longer than the pre-Covid norm. As a result, more Americans have been pushed out of the new-car market or forced to take on more debt to stay in it. President Donald Trump and his allies in Congress have cast fuel-economy rules and other regulations as the culprit behind consumers’ pain. Democrats blame tariffs the president has imposed on imported cars and auto parts.