--- title: There Are Now Only 10 New Car Models That Cost Less Than $25,000 description: Cars with prices of $25,000 or less represented a significant share of the market five years ago. Now there are only 10 new car models left. authors: - name: Pete Grieve role: Lead News Reporter url: https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/ bio: Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. In his time at Money, Pete has covered everything from car buying to credit cards to the housing market. education: University of Chicago, BA Political Science at_money_since: 2022 articles: 602 covers: - Economy and Politics - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes social: - https://twitter.com/pete_grieve - https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138 - https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4 editors: - 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: - Economy and Politics - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2023-02-24T18:34:35.000Z' modified: '2024-01-10T17:50:56.000Z' section: Economy and Politics tags: - cars - News word_count: 537 canonical: https://money.com/new-cars-msrp-under-25000-dollars/ type: NewsArticle 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/). ![Couple examining new car at car dealership](https://img.money.com/2023/02/News-Affordable-Cars-Dissapearing.jpg) The number of car models in the U.S. with sticker prices below $25,000 is shrinking fast. At the end of 2017, there were three dozen models with manufacturer suggested retail prices (MSRPs) typically below $25,000, according to a report from [Cox Automotive](https://www.coxautoinc.com/market-insights/seismic-shift-the-u-s-new-vehicle-market-is-becoming-a-luxury-market/), a research and consulting firm. Fast forward five years and only 10 remain. The trend is largely due to [skyrocketing new car prices](https://money.com/new-car-prices-more-affordable/) and a shift from manufacturers toward the production of more luxury cars. The average price of a new car is now [close to $50,000](https://money.com/average-new-car-price-record-high/), up from about $36,000 in 2017, according to [Kelley Blue Book](https://mediaroom.kbb.com/2018-01-03-Average-New-Car-Prices-Set-Record-High-Up-Nearly-2-Percent-In-December-2017-According-To-Kelley-Blue-Book). ## What the research says Of the 10 cars still under $25,000 at the end of 2022, six are sedans, two are hatchbacks, and two are crossover SUVs. They’re all compact or subcompact cars. These cars account for less than 4% all vehicle sales, a major decline from 2017 when the vehicles under $25,000 represented about 13% of the market, according to Cox. Here is the list of the cars in order of MSRP: - Chevrolet Spark: $17,244 - Kia Rio: $18,962 - Mitsubishi Mirage: $19,300 - Hyundai Accent: $19,503 - Nissan Versa: $20,262 - Kia Forte: $23,005 - Kia Soul: $23,349 - Hyundai Venue: $23,714 - Nissan Sentra: $24,098 - Toyota Corolla: $24,978 *Note: The MSRPs in this list are the sticker prices of the vehicles that were sold in December, meaning they're the typical prices when factoring in trim and option packages. This is not a list of starting MSRPs, which would be lower.* ## Why it matters Affordable new cars are few and far between. Supply shortages and low inventory have lifted MSRPs for all cars and reduced the number of vehicles under $25,000. The number of affordable vehicles may continue to decline going forward. The MSRPs for most of the vehicles in the list above increased by $400 or more between the 2022 and 2023 models, and two of them, the Spark and the Accent, were discontinued. - As [auto loan interest rates](https://money.com/best-auto-loan-rates/) have risen due to the [Fed's rate hikes](https://money.com/fed-interest-rate-hike-february-2023/) aimed at slowing [inflation](https://money.com/things-getting-more-expensive-inflation/), the budget car market has been hit hard. - The higher costs of borrowing severely impact buyers with low [credit scores](https://money.com/what-is-a-credit-score/), reducing demand for new vehicles at the lower end of the market. (Shoppers on tight budgets are instead looking at the [used car market](https://money.com/average-used-car-prices-down/), where cars under $10,000 are selling the fastest.) - As a result, manufacturers would generally rather produce luxury cars, according to Cox. "As prices rise and high interest rates shut out many shoppers with low credit scores, the U.S. market is becoming a luxury market, i.e., a new vehicle is a luxury afforded only by wealthier buyers," the report said. - In December, more than 25% of the new vehicles that sold were higher-end models with MSRPs above $60,000, an increase from December 2017 when less than 8% of cars were in that price range. ## Bottom line You can still buy a new car for less than $25,000, but there aren't nearly as many options as there were five years ago. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/new-cars-msrp-under-25000-dollars/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Economy and Politics", "item": "https://money.com/economy-and-politics/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Auto Industry", "item": "https://money.com/auto-industry/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There Are Now Only 10 New Car Models That Cost Less Than $25,000" } ] }, { "@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/new-cars-msrp-under-25000-dollars/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/new-cars-msrp-under-25000-dollars/", "name": "There Are Now Only 10 New Car Models That Cost Less Than $25,000", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2023-02-24T18:34:35.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/new-cars-msrp-under-25000-dollars/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/new-cars-msrp-under-25000-dollars/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-01-10T17:50:56.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "There Are Now Only 10 New Car Models That Cost Less Than $25,000", "articleSection": "Economy and Politics", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2023/02/News-Affordable-Cars-Dissapearing.jpg", "width": 2700, "height": 1800, "caption": "News-Affordable-Cars-Dissapearing" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Pete Grieve", "url": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/pete-grieve/#author", "description": "Pete Grieve is a personal finance reporter. In his time at Money, Pete has covered everything from car buying to credit cards to the housing market.", "image": "https://img.money.com/2023/02/peter.png?w=350&h=430&crop=1", "email": "peter.grieve@money.com", "jobTitle": "Lead News Reporter", "alumniOf": "University of Chicago, BA Political Science", "sameAs": [ "https://twitter.com/pete_grieve", "https://linkedin.com/in/pete-grieve-b5aa02138", "https://www.facebook.com/petegrieve4" ], "worksFor": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } } ], "publisher": "https://money.com/#organization", "datePublished": "2023-02-24T18:34:35.000Z", "description": "Cars with prices of $25,000 or less represented a significant share of the market five years ago. Now there are only 10 new car models left.", "abstract": "Cars with prices of $25,000 or less represented a significant share of the market five years ago. Now there are only 10 new car models left.", "@id": "https://money.com/new-cars-msrp-under-25000-dollars/", "inLanguage": "en-US", "dateModified": "2024-01-10T17:50:56.000Z", "editor": [ { "@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" ] } ], "wordCount": 537, "keywords": [ "cars", "News" ], "about": [ { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Political economy", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_economy" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Automotive industry", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automotive_industry" ] }, { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Vehicle", "sameAs": [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vehicle" ] } ] } ] } ```