Critical Shifts:
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New Vehicle Prices Near Historic Highs: The average price paid for a new vehicle in the U.S. reached $50,562 in September—the fourth consecutive monthly increase, bringing it within just $52 of the all-time record set in December 2025.
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Affordability Shifts Market Mix: Rising prices are pushing consumers toward more affordable models. Stronger sales in lower-priced segments (like compact cars and subcompact SUVs) are tempering the overall industry average, preventing an even larger price spike.
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EV Prices and Incentives Decline: While average vehicle prices are rising, the average transaction price for electric vehicles dropped 3% year over year (to $55,879 in September). At the same time, EV incentives hit their lowest level of 2026, falling to 11% of the transaction price.
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The average price paid for a new vehicle in the United States climbed to $50,562 in September, coming within $52 of the record set in December 2025, according to Kelley Blue Book, a Cox Automotive brand.
September marked the fourth consecutive monthly increase in transaction prices. The average rose 0.9% from August and 0.7% year over year, a smaller annual gain than typically seen during this time of year.
Affordability is influencing what consumers buy. Stronger sales of lower-priced vehicles, combined with a slower-than-usual arrival of new model-year inventory, helped keep the overall price increase in check, according to Kelley Blue Book's analysis.
The average manufacturer's suggested retail price (MSRP) reached $52,342 in September, up from $51,821 in August and 0.8% higher than a year earlier.
Incentives averaged $3,359 per vehicle, equivalent to 6.6% of the average transaction price. That was up 2.6% from August but down 8.8% year over year. Incentive spending accounted for 7.3% of transaction prices in September 2025.
Lower-Priced Segments Help Hold Down the Average
The five highest-volume vehicle segments accounted for approximately 855,000 sales in September, or nearly two-thirds of the month's total. Four of those segments recorded year-over-year price increases, but the mix of vehicles sold continued to influence the industry's overall average.
Compact cars averaged $27,977, up 3.2% year over year, while subcompact SUVs averaged $31,213, an increase of 1.5%.
Among higher-priced segments, mid-size SUVs averaged $50,630, up 2% from a year earlier. Full-size pickup trucks reached $67,573, an increase of 1.5%. Compact SUVs were the exception, with an average transaction price of $37,614, down 0.4% year over year.
“Consumers don’t buy the industry average,” said Erin Keating, executive analyst at Cox Automotive. She said prices for many individual vehicles continue to rise, even as affordability pressures push more buyers toward lower-priced models and temper the industrywide increase.
EV Prices Remain Below Year-Ago Levels
The average transaction price for a new electric vehicle reached $55,879 in September, up from a revised $54,574 in August but down 3% year over year.
The price premium for an EV over a comparable internal-combustion-engine vehicle was approximately 11% in September. That gap has remained near 11% throughout 2026, compared with an average of nearly 18% in 2025.
EV incentives also continued to decline. Incentive spending fell to 11% of the average EV transaction price in September, its lowest level of 2026, compared with 14.2% a year earlier.
Tesla's average transaction price increased 3.3% month over month to $54,345, leaving it 0.4% above September 2025 levels. The Model 3, averaging $53,804, and Model Y, at $53,052, accounted for nearly 97% of Tesla sales.
Nearly 1,500 Cybertrucks were sold in September, with an average transaction price of $98,109.
While new-vehicle prices remain close to record levels, September's figures show how the mix of vehicles consumers choose can temper industrywide averages. Lower-priced cars and SUVs continue to account for an important share of sales, while EV prices have eased from year-ago levels despite a monthly increase.
