- In March, the average transaction price for an types of new cars in the US was $47,462.
- Interestingly, the average ATP of a new EV last month was much pricier at $59,205.
- ATPs at brands like Land Rover, Lincoln, and Mitsubishi have spiked considerably.
Car buyers looking for a break may be in for a short-lived reprieve. While vehicle prices are widely expected to rise in response to the Trump administration’s new tariff policy, March offered a rare moment of calm. Both new and used car prices dipped slightly compared to February, and on average, they were less than 1% higher than they were in March 2024.
It’s a temporary win for shoppers, but don’t expect it to last. Once dealers run through their pre-tariff inventory, the market is likely to shift.
Read: Crushing Import Tariffs Could Kill Audi’s Best-Selling Model In America
Data from Cox Automotive reveals that the average monthly transaction price for new cars in the US last month was $47,462. This is a small decline from the $47,577 of February. Curiously, the ATP discrepancy between ICE models and EVs has actually increased recently, even though EVs should, in theory, be approaching price parity.
EV Prices Push Higher
Estimates put the average ATP of a new EV in March at $59,205. This is a 7% increase year-over-year and up from $57,015 in February. This is in part due to rising Tesla prices, with its ATPs estimated at $54,582, or 3.5% higher year-over-year, and jumping 4.5% from February, too.
Average transaction prices at other brands have also jumped. For example, Land Rover ATPs hit $107,129 in March, up 8.8% from February’s figure of $98,478. They are also up 6.1% year-over-year. Lincoln and Mitsubishi ATPs also rose 4.7% and 4.3% month-over-month, hitting $68,281 and $31,692, respectively.
Not All Prices Are Rising
A few automakers actually posted lower ATPs in March. For example, they were down 5% at Cadillac in March, dropping to $74,078. They also declined 5.8% at Jaguar to $64,403, and were down 2.6% at Dodge and Infiniti, falling to $49,548 and $62,276, respectively.
Cox Automotive’s data also reveals that total market sales climbed significantly in March, even though prices and incentives largely remained steady. It estimates that 1.59 million new vehicles were sold last month in the US. If accurate, this would represent the best sales volume month in nearly four years and is a 30% increase from February.
Read: Average EV Transaction Price $6,300 Higher Than Gas Cars
The reason is simple. Many car shoppers have been rushing to buy a new vehicle before the tariffs hit and increase prices across the market.
“All signs point to higher prices this summer, as existing ‘pre-tariff’ inventory is sold down to be eventually replaced with ‘tariffed’ inventory,” Cox executive analyst Erin Keating said. “How high prices rise for consumers is still very much to be determined, as each automaker will handle the price puzzle differently. Should the White House posture hold, our team is expecting new vehicles directly impacted by the 25% tariff to see price increases in the range of 10-15%.”
