As new car prices are close to historic highs, middle class consumers are discouraged, and high sales prices threaten the increase in US car sales this year. According to data from industry research firm Cox Automotive, although sales are expected to exceed 16 million units for the full year of 2025, the annualized growth rate in the fourth quarter has dropped to around 15.6 million units, down more than 5% from the third quarter. Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist at Cox, said that this “sharp decline” indicates that the market lacks momentum for growth in the new year. The core reason is that consumers who earn less than $150,000 a year are uneasy. Affected by the cost of living pressure, this group of people has drastically cut their car purchase plans. Cox predicts that US car sales will drop to 15.8 million units this year, which will be the first annual sales decline in the US auto industry since 2022.

As new car prices are close to historic highs, middle class consumers are discouraged, and high sales prices threaten the increase in US car sales this year. According to data from industry research firm Cox Automotive, although sales are expected to exceed 16 million units for the full year of 2025, the annualized growth rate in the fourth quarter has dropped to around 15.6 million units, down more than 5% from the third quarter. Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist at Cox, said that this “sharp decline” indicates that the market lacks momentum for growth in the new year. The core reason is that consumers who earn less than $150,000 a year are uneasy. Affected by the cost of living pressure, this group of people has drastically cut their car purchase plans. Cox predicts that US car sales will drop to 15.8 million units this year, which will be the first annual sales decline in the US auto industry since 2022.