Automakers Aim for More Affordable Cars as Sub-$30K Sales Surge

• Ford, Mini, Mitsubishi, and Ram all told dealers that they aim to launch more affordable vehicles soon, as reported by Automotive News.
• Ford said it would increase production of the F-150 STX—the second least expensive trim—and Mitsubishi is planning a more affordable version of the Outlander Sport.
• The move follows a successful 2024 for low-priced cars, such as the Nissan Sentra, which saw a 40 percent rise to 152,659 units.

The average price of new cars has risen dramatically in recent years to hover in the mid-$40,000 range. Yet customers have shown increased interest in affordable cars, with many low-priced vehicles experiencing a sales surge in 2024. Automakers are taking notice, and several companies expressed plans at the recent NADA show in New Orleans to cater to customer demand by launching less expensive models in the near future, according to a report by Automotive News.

More Affordable Options

At the event—a trade show organized by the National Automobile Dealers Association—Ford, Mini, Mitsubishi, and Ram all reportedly informed dealers that they plan to offer more affordable vehicles. Ford brass said it would boost production of the F-150’s STX trim—the second least expensive variant—as well as lower trims for the Escape and Explorer. Ford also brought back the base model for the Bronco off-road SUV for 2025, and it’s launching refreshed versions of the Maverick and Bronco Sport.

Mini’s American executive also expressed interest in lowering the price points on some models as well as reviving the Oxford Edition last seen on the 2022 Cooper hatchback. Ram announced that it will expand the 1500 truck lineup with more affordable trims, while Mitsubishi is planning a less expensive version of the Outlander Sport.

These moves would buck a trend in recent years of automakers eliminating base models, thus raising the entry points for many of their models. Honda, for example, cut the base variant of the Odyssey when it updated the minivan for 2025, raising the price of entry by $3680. In some cases, these changes were caused by the microchip shortage, with automakers prioritizing more expensive, higher-margin models. But automakers have also shown a preference in recent years for selling fewer cars at higher margins for more profits, one of the reasons, for example, that Ford ditched cars—besides the Mustang—for a lineup of SUVs and trucks. But it seems this trend may have hit a breaking point.

Customers Are Speaking with Their Wallets

While average new-car prices have dipped slightly from their peak in 2022—sitting at $46,400 at the end of December, per J.D. Power—monthly payments haven’t fallen; December had the highest average loan payment ever at $756. According to J.D. Power, this has caused a reduction in young people buying cars, with 17.6 percent of sales last year coming from shoppers under 35 years old, down 3 percent from pre-pandemic levels.

Rising inflation and high interest rates sparked an increase in sales of low-priced cars last year. The Chevy Trax, which starts at just $21,495, racked up 200,689 sales, making it the brand’s third bestselling model, just behind the Equinox, which starts at just under $30K. Even the aging Malibu, which starts at $26,995, managed to find over 117,000 buyers.

Although the Ford Maverick has seen its base price rise by around $6000 since 2022, it still starts under $30K and saw its sales rise from 94,058 in 2023 to 131,142 in 2024. Honda’s two most affordable models, the Civic sedan and HR-V SUV, also had a big year, with Civic sales up by 21 percent to 242,005 units and HR-V sales up by 24 percent to 151,468.

Nissan’s lowest-priced vehicles also had a successful 2024: the Versa was up 72 percent to 42,589 units, the Sentra was up 40 percent to 152,659 units, and the Kicks was up 16 percent to 77,356 units. All three models start under $24,000. Another affordable SUV, the Mazda CX-30, saw a 25 percent increase to 96,515 units, while the Mitsubishi Mirage, which has been discontinued but started at just $17,965, had a huge 2024 with 29,766 sales, up by 125 percent.

The rising sales of affordable models have been felt by a wide variety of automakers, and if their comments from the NADA show are any indication, they seem to be listening. We’ll be curious to see how many automakers follow through with moves toward more affordable models over the coming year.

Caleb Miller began blogging about cars at 13 years old, and he realized his dream of writing for a car magazine after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and joining the Car and Driver team. He loves quirky and obscure autos, aiming to one day own something bizarre like a Nissan S-Cargo, and is an avid motorsports fan.