The average transaction price (ATP) for a new vehicle climbed to $50,080 in September.
The increase was led in part by an increase in electric vehicle sales as EV tax incentives expired, along with luxury vehicles purchased by “wealthier households,” according to Cox Automotive.
The ATP had come dangerously close to the $50,000 mark on a few occasions earlier in 2025, but the $50,080 mark set in September is the highest that the figure has ever stood. Last month’s ATP was up 2.1% compared to August and represents a 3.6% increase over the same period a year prior.
The average sticker price (MSRP) of a new car rose to $52,183 in September, though the average incentive of 7.2% was similarly up over the prior month. That MSRP figure is up 4.2% year over year.
“Today’s auto market is being driven by wealthier households who have access to capital, good loan rates, and are propping up the higher end of the market,” Erin Keating, an Executive Analyst at Cox Automotive, said in a statement. “Tariffs have introduced new cost pressure to the business, but the pricing story in September was mostly driven by the healthy mix of EVs and higher-end vehicles pushing the new-vehicle ATP into uncharted territory.”
A record 437,487 electric vehicles were sold in the third quarter of 2025, which represents 10.5% of the market in the United States, driven by EV tax incentives that went away at the end of September. The ATP of those electric vehicles stood at $58,124.
Perhaps more alarming to buyers experiencing sticker shock in new-car showrooms, 7.4% of all vehicles on the market in September carried sticker prices that exceeded $75,000. But the increases shouldn’t be so surprising “when you consider the best-selling vehicle in America is a pickup truck from Ford that routinely costs north of $65,000,” Keating said.
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Growing up in a family obsessed with performance and as the son of an automotive engineer, Jeremy Korzeniewski has spent his entire life as a car enthusiast. Also an avid motorcyclist, Jeremy has spent the last two decades writing about the transportation industry and providing insights to many of the largest automotive publications in the world.
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