Amidst all that happened in 2020, car buyers and the automotive industry set another new record, and it's not exactly a positive one. The average selling price of a new car in December 2020 and the fourth quarter of last year topped 33,000 euros ($40,000).
Edmunds released its quarterly analysis of auto market trends last week, which showed that the average purchase price for a new car in the fourth quarter was €29,184 ($35,373), and buyers put down an average of €3,905 ($4,734). Add those numbers up, and you get the average selling price of a new car — about €33,000.
Although new car prices have been rising this much for a while, Edmunds said that December always pushes the numbers higher as it's the month when major luxury car brands retire older models to make room for new ones.
As more luxury cars are phased out, the pressure falls on midsize models. We may see some reduction in average prices in early 2021, but the long-term shift to electric cars and trucks won’t help much. Edmunds noted that the trend is not going to change, and new-car buyers are increasingly looking for more features and equipment.
All the while, we continue to see a huge economic divide. Jessica Caldwell, executive director of Edmunds, said that those with the purchasing power aren't shying away from buying a new car, even in the midst of a general recession. That's leaving a lot of buyers out of the market or pushing them into the increasingly popular used car market.
