The average new vehicle now transacts at or near $50,000, but Cox Automotive argues that the headline figure obscures what is actually happening in the market: today’s vehicles carry far more standard safety and technology content than they did a decade ago, and household budgets are being squeezed across nearly every category of spending, not just at the dealership.
The argument, drawn from Cox Automotive’s 2026 Mid-Year Review and laid out in an analysis published June 30 by Executive Analyst Erin Keating, reframes a persistent affordability narrative. Average manufacturer’s suggested retail price, Keating wrote, is not a straightforward measure of
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