Prices are trending in the right direction in October, as fears that a UAW trike could affect supply fail to materialize
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Although new vehicle prices are still notably high, buyers are getting some relief, new data from Cox Automotive finds. In October 2023, the average buyer paid 1.4 percent less for a new vehicle than they did in 2022.
On average, the price of a new vehicle was $47,936 last month, or approximately $670 less than in October 2022. That continues a positive trend for shoppers in 2023, as transaction prices have fallen by more than 3.5 percent for the year-to-date.
Things are a little less rosy when it comes to month-to-month changes. In September, average vehicle prices were less than one percent lower. However, shoppers can still be happy, because October was affected by the UAW strike, albeit less than feared.
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Overall, the impact of the strike on the American automotive market was very minor, according to Cox. Its research found that the effects of the striking were narrow in scope, and only directly impacted a handful of vehicles. That makes sense, since the UAW only targeted specific facilities.
Read: UAW, GM Reach Tentative Contract Deal, Potentially Ending Six-Weeks Of Striking
Interestingly, vehicle prices in the luxury and non-luxury segments appear to be moving in opposite directions. Whereas the amount luxury buyers paid fell as compared to a year ago, they are up month-to-month. In the non-luxury segment, the opposite is true.
However, Cox argues that the recent increase in luxury vehicle pricing may have more to do with Tesla than the segment as a whole. The brand’s October transaction figures rose by 5.2 percent over September, reversing a 10-month trend of falling prices.
“The only big mover last month was Tesla, which continues to shift pricing at a surprising pace,” said Rebecca Rydzewski, a research manager at Cox Automotive. “In fact, the price shifts at Tesla in 2023 showcase just how dynamic pricing can be with a direct-to-consumer sales model.”
As the dominant electric vehicle manufacturer, that also means that the average amount paid in that segment was up by nearly $1,500, month-over-month. However, EV shoppers spent an average of $13,000 less in October 2023 than they did in the same month a year earlier.
It’s all good news for shoppers, as prices are trending in the right direction. However, they still have to spend significantly more today than they did before the pandemic.
