TEXAS — Affordability is what’s on many Americans’ minds, and several industries are focusing in on it, with the automotive industry being no exception.

2025 was a strong year for the industry, with people buying new cars before the tariffs hit. Owners of used car dealerships report having had some slow months last year, with business picking up toward the end of the year and being off to a good start in the new year.

Zachary Shelley and his brother took over operations at the used car dealership Shelley’s Auto Sales, which is between Austin and Waco. Their father started the business back in the 1980s. 

“He pretty much was a one-man show, and around ‘86 or so, he moved to this location, and it was a bigger car lot, but not near the size it is now,” Shelley said.

Shelley started off as a mechanic at the dealership when he was in high school, then worked his way up to being a salesperson. It’s safe to say he knows a lot about the auto industry, seeing how things have changed over the years.

Because of a few factors, Shelley says the dealership had its difficulties last year.

“We had some months that were a little slow, and I heard that kind of throughout our market,” Shelley said. “End of the year, we bounced right back and had a really good kind of last couple of months.”

But for new car dealerships, 2025 felt different.

“2025 as a whole was certainly a crazy year,” said Don Herring, the owner of two Mitsubishi dealerships in the Dallas area. “We saw some pull ahead with the people trying to beat tariff pricing, buy new cars before the tariffs increased the prices across the board.”

Used car sales have been a big part of his business and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. 

According to Kelley Blue Book, the average price for a new car exceeded $50,000 in September of last year for the first time. That’s about a $10,000 increase since 2020.

Herring says car manufacturers are proposing new ways to make new cars more affordable.

“Everyone’s predicting the market to get softer,” Herring said. “So, they’ve got to figure out, ‘How do we continue to sell these cars we’re building?’ And we’re starting to see that focus on affordability swing towards the consumer side a little bit.”

For Shelley’s used car dealership, the momentum from the end of 2025 has continued into the new year so far.

“I don’t see anything on the horizon that would cause any kind of big changes in the market,” Shelley said.