\n The Mitsubishi Mirage, which was discontinued in August 2024, was priced at about $18,000; the Kia Forte, which Kia essentially replaced with the more expensive K4, was discontinued after the K4\u2019s announcement in March 2024.\n <\/p>\n
![\"New](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/gettyimages-2210053860.jpg\")
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\n Those cars were largely produced abroad, where wages for autoworkers are cheaper. President Donald Trump\u2019s 25% tariffs on imported cars and auto parts have raised costs for automakers, although many companies have eaten most of the billions in additional costs because of concerns that consumers would reject price increases and delay purchases, Drury said. The tariff costs likely doomed the least expensive models, which had thin margins to begin with.\n <\/p>\n
\n The least expensive new car today is the 2026 Hyundai Venue, which has a manufacturer\u2019s suggested retail price of $20,550, according to Edmunds.\n <\/p>\n
\n Affordable cars like the Versa, which may not sell in profitable volumes, are more likely to be cut from automakers\u2019 lineups while leaving other affordable models on the market, said Drury. Competing automakers, like Toyota, stand to gain customers who will prioritize a less expensive, entry-level vehicle over brand loyalty, he added.\n <\/p>\n
\n Car dealers are increasingly worried that lower-income consumers are being excluded from the market, as a wealthier group of buyers sustain car sales, warned Keating.\n <\/p>\n
\n Buyers who can\u2019t afford new cars are opting to buy used vehicles or holding onto their current cars for longer, Keating said. But Americans who can\u2019t afford a car at all will face more hurdles when returning to work, running errands and chauffeuring children \u2014 especially in cities or towns lacking reliable public transportation.\n <\/p>\n
\n Households making less than $75,000 annually made up 26% of sales last year, compared to 37% in 2019, according to a Cox Automotive analysis of S&P Global Mobility data.\n <\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/gettyimages-2209112143.jpg\")
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\n Meanwhile, wealthier buyers who can afford new vehicles are opting for premium, larger SUVs, Keating said. People making more than $150,000 now make up more than 40% of new car sales, compared to about 29% in 2019, according to Cox. Those 2019 income levels are not adjusted for inflation or changes in average income.\n <\/p>\n
\n It\u2019s another example of America\u2019s increasingly K-shaped economy,<\/a> where wealthy Americans continue to spend while a larger share of middle- and lower-income households pull back due to economic strain.\n <\/p>\n \n Wealthier Americans have seen their net worths boosted by the strong stock market<\/a>, wage gains and higher home values. But lower-earning Americans have seen a slowing job market, high debt burdens<\/a> and years of accumulated inflation take a bite out of their spending power.\n <\/p>\n \n Buyers care most about their monthly payments, said Tyson Jominy, senior vice president of data and analytics at J.D. Power. A $500 monthly payment pre-pandemic may have been enough to afford a Toyota Highlander but now gets a compact car like a Toyota Corolla, he said.\n <\/p>\n \n Overall car prices are expected to drop by about $500 on average in 2026, he said, signaling a better-priced environment for consumers.\n <\/p>\n \n And as automakers fight for a smaller share of consumers, they\u2019ll offer more incentives on new cars to compete with one- or two-year-old vehicles, noted Drury.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cOnce we see incentives pile on for those new cars, it trickles on down. So hopefully the used market can give consumers a place to go if they are just completely turned off,\u201d said Drury.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In 2024, US buyers had a choice of three cars priced under $20,000. Now, there are none. Data…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":413516,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[45,49,48,46],"class_list":{"0":"post-413515","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-business","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-economy"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413515","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=413515"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/413515\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/413516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=413515"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=413515"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=413515"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}