Today, affluent buyers continue to prop up the U.S. car market, dealers and analysts say, an example of the K-shaped economy, where higher-income consumers continue to spend on big-ticket items while lower-income people struggle.
Last year, buyers with household incomes of $100,000 or less accounted for 36 percent of new vehicle sales, down from 51 percent as recently as 2020, according to S&P Global Mobility.
In June, the average transaction price for a vehicle in the U.S. ticked higher by 1 percent from a year earlier, to about $46,400, according to JD Power, although that is down from the peak.
Consumers, however, have gotten some relief from a dip in interest rates on new-vehicle loans. In June, the average rate fell by about one-third of a percentage point, to 6.66 percent, the lowest in four years, JD Power said.
Americans also continue to stretch their loan terms to lower monthly car payments. In the second quarter, a record 24 percent of financers signed on for loans of 84 months or longer, according to Edmunds.
Those stretched loan terms have helped more people to afford new cars. Monthly vehicle payments as a percentage of disposable income have continued to decline, hitting 13.3 percent in the first quarter, according to a new report from AlixPartners.
Hybrid boost
Elevated prices at the pump have not yet sparked a U.S. electric-vehicle revolution, but they have nudged some shoppers to search for fuel-sipping hybrid options, according to Cox Automotive data.
The research firm found that 56 percent of shoppers say rising gas prices make them more likely to consider a hybrid. Hybrid sales were up 19 percent in the first half of the year from 2025, according to Omdia.
“Every hot product I have is a hybrid or an electric,” said Jim Walen, a Seattle dealer with Hyundai and Stellantis stores.
Hyundai’s electrified sales of battery electric vehicles and hybrids represented 33 percent of the automaker’s total sales in the first half of the year. In the quarter, Hyundai’s hybrid sales were up 71 percent. At Toyota, sales of electrified vehicles were up about 20 percent in the quarter, representing 57 percent of total sales volume.
