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New Car Prices Increase 2% in April

The average transaction price of a new car in April was $35,411, a 2% increase year-over-year, according to a Kelley Blue Book report.

May 3, 2018
New Car Prices Increase 2% in April

Photo by Eric Gandarilla. 

Photo by Eric Gandarilla.

2 min to read


The average transaction price of a new car in April was $35,411, a 2% increase year-over-year, according to a Kelley Blue Book report.

Toyota, Volkswagen, and General Motors were among the three manufacturers to see the highest gains to their average transaction price. Respectively, the manufacturers experienced a 3.2%, 3.0%, and 2.9% increase in average transaction price.

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Within Toyota, the redesigned Camry yielded the highest average price increase. The Atlas and Tiguan SUVs drove much of the rise within Volkswagen. For Ford, the Lincoln Navigator was a big price driver.

“Average transaction prices moved up another 2% in April, with most manufacturers reporting year-over-year increases,” said Tim Fleming, analyst for Kelley Blue Book. “Although fuel prices rose for the second month in a row and are nearing a $3 national average. Kelley Blue Book saw greater price increases for SUV models than with cars.”

The Navigator wasn’t the only luxury vehicle to see an average transaction price increase in April. Luxury vehicles in general saw many models post higher transaction prices, according to KBB. One reason given for this was the fact that luxury buyers are typically less price-sensitive than mainstream brand buyers, and will pay for higher-priced vehicles.

Taking a look at how different vehicle segments performed in the month, nearly all of the 22 vehicle segments that KBB tracks experienced year-over-year gains to their average transaction price.

Compact cars, full-size cars, subcompact cars, high-end luxury cars, and vans all saw year-over-year declines in average transaction price. This is in contrast to the small car segments in the wholesale market, which in the past month have seen gains in average wholesale price.

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Luxury car prices have also struggled in the wholesale market as well, however.

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