--- title: These Auto Sales Records Were Broken in 2015 description: By the time the numbers are added up, 2015 will record the most ever car sales, plus the highest transaction prices and most auto leases. authors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Personal Finance - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2016-01-05T19:35:54.000Z' modified: '2024-05-16T10:46:47.000Z' section: Personal Finance tags: - Autos - Economy - Gas prices word_count: 430 canonical: https://money.com/auto-sales-most-ever-leases-trucks-prices/ type: Article source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![General Motors Chevrolet vehicles are displayed for sale on the lot at Phillips Chevrolet car dealership in Frankfort, Illinois, on April 30, 2015.](https://img.money.com/2016/01/160105_em_autosalesrecords.jpg) *General Motors Chevrolet vehicles are displayed for sale on the lot at Phillips Chevrolet car dealership in Frankfort, Illinois, on April 30, 2015.* In 2009, only 10.4 million new vehicles were sold in the U.S. After adjusting for population, it was the lowest level since World War II. But it's been quite a comeback ever since that Great Recession low point. By the time all of the numbers are added up, 2015 will have recorded the most ever car sales in American history. "It's truly remarkable that the auto industry is finishing off its best year ever just six years after the depths of the Great Recession," Jessica Caldwell, director of industry analysis for [Edmunds.com](http://www.edmunds.com/about/press/record-breaking-new-car-sales-in-december-to-cap-off-best-year-ever-for-auto-industry-forecasts-edmundscom.html) said in a report recently. And 2015 was the auto industry's best year ever in a few different ways. **Overall Sales** Though the numbers aren't final yet, it's clear that December 2015 was yet another strong month for U.S. auto sales in a year that set a record-breaking pace. Therefore, as projected, 2015 will gain the title for most cars sold in America. After gathering insights from automakers and economists, [Reuters](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-autos-idUSKBN0UJ1C620160105) estimated that the final tally will be 17.5 million to 18 million cars sold in 2015, and even if it's on the low end of the spectrum it would top the previous high of 17.35 million in 2000. **Car Leases** A decade ago, 16.6% of new car retail sales were leases. In 2015, an estimated 29% of new cars were leased, according to Edmunds data cited by [Automotive News](http://www.autonews.com/article/20160105/RETAIL01/160109995/u-s-auto-sales-on-track-to-break-record). That's a record high, up from 27% of new autos being leased in 2014. **Transaction Price** Throughout 2015, the average price paid for a new car crept higher, owing to a range of factors including cheaper gas prices—hence a shift to more SUVs and trucks (see below)—as well as improvement in the economy and more leasing (see above). [Kelley Blue Book](http://mediaroom.kbb.com/2015-05-01-New-Car-Transaction-Prices-Rise-Steadily-Up-2-6-Percent-in-April-2015-According-to-Kelley-Blue-Book) noted that average April 2015 transaction prices hit $33,560, a 2.6% increase over the same month the year before. The average transaction price then reached a [record high in December](http://mediaroom.kbb.com/record-new-car-transaction-prices-reported-december-2015) of $34,428, thanks partly to the increase in year-end luxury vehicle purchases. And for the year as a whole, it's expected that 2015 will set a new high in terms of average transaction price, up roughly 2.5% over 2015. **SUVs and Trucks** As noted above, higher average transaction prices are partly the result of increased interest in pricier SUVs and trucks. Through the first 11 months of 2015, light-duty truck sales were up 12.5%, according to [Motor Intelligence](http://online.wsj.com/mdc/public/page/2_3022-autosales.html), while the crossover and mid-size and luxury SUV categories were all up 15% or more. Last year was easily the biggest ever in terms of SUV and truck sales. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/auto-sales-most-ever-leases-trucks-prices/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Personal Finance", "item": "https://money.com/personal-finance/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Budgeting", "item": "https://money.com/budgeting/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "These Auto Sales Records Were Broken in 2015" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/auto-sales-most-ever-leases-trucks-prices/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/auto-sales-most-ever-leases-trucks-prices/", "name": "These Auto Sales Records Were Broken in 2015", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2016-01-05T19:35:54.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/auto-sales-most-ever-leases-trucks-prices/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/auto-sales-most-ever-leases-trucks-prices/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-05-16T10:46:47.000Z" }, { "@type": "Article", "headline": "These Auto Sales Records Were Broken in 2015", "articleSection": "Personal Finance", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2016/01/160105_em_autosalesrecords.jpg", "width": 2100, "height": 1400, "caption": "160105_EM_AutoSalesRecords" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Brad Tuttle", "url": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/#author", "description": "Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals.\r\n\r\n", "image": "https://img.money.com/2014/01/Brad-Tuttle.png?w=226&h=247&crop=1", "alumniOf": "Columbia University School of Journalism, MS", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle", "https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225" ] } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2016-01-05T19:35:54.000Z", "description": "By the time the numbers are added up, 2015 will record the most ever car sales, plus the highest transaction prices and most auto leases.", "abstract": "By the time the numbers are added up, 2015 will record the most ever car sales, plus the highest transaction prices and most auto leases.", "@id": "https://money.com/auto-sales-most-ever-leases-trucks-prices/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-05-16T10:46:47.000Z", "wordCount": 430, "keywords": [ "Autos", "Economy", "Gas prices" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Personal finance", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_finance" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Budget", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budget" ] } ] } ] } ```