Consumers are concerned about rising fuel prices and affordability — and that could be showing up in how fast the least expensive cars are moving off dealer lots.
From the first quarter to the third, the number of days it took a dealer to sell a vehicle priced between $20,000 and $29,999 dropped 20%, according to data from Edmunds. That pace of selling saw the biggest acceleration of any price segment.
Vehicles priced from $30,000 to $39,999 sold about 18% faster, and the number of days it took to sell the next tier — $40,000 to $49,999 — dropped nearly 12%, according to Edmunds.
All of those price segments also took fewer days to turn than their more expensive counterparts. The lower-priced tiers took under 60 days to move off lots, with the least expensive ones selling the fastest. Every segment of vehicles above $50,000, meanwhile, took more than 60 days to sell.
“If you’re a dealer and you have inventory and that price point, you’re definitely noticing,” said Edmunds Director of Insights Ivan Drury.
Cheaper vehicles may be selling faster, but they’re still hard to find. The average listing price for a new vehicle in September was $49,726, according to Cox Automotive.
And, the overall sales numbers for some key segments priced under $40,000 have fallen. This has especially been true for compact cars, which are down roughly 4% since the beginning of 2026, and compact SUVs, down nearly 8% in the same period, according to Cox Automotive.
These different data points seem to be moving in opposite directions. On the one hand, cheaper cars are moving faster off dealer lots. On the other, sales of affordable segments are down.
There are a few reasons for this, according to analysts who follow the industry. One is that there might not be enough lower-priced vehicles on dealer lots in the first place.
“I think there are some supply things going on at that end of the market,” said Cox Automotive Deputy Chief Economist Mark Strand. “We have to kind of grade the market on a curve until we see what’s going on with fourth-quarter data.”
The compact SUV segment, in particular, is suffering from the lack of two popular models.
The Toyota RAV4, which is the most popular SUV in the U.S., has been in short supply at many dealerships this year, as the automaker shifts production to its Kentucky factory, Strand said. The company also has shifted the entire lineup to a hybrid powertrain at a time when hybrids have been in exceptionally high demand.
The other missing SUV is the Ford Escape, which that automaker discontinued to make way for its upcoming midsize EV pickup truck.
The other slow-selling, low-priced segment — compact cars — faces structural inventory challenges, said AutoForecast Solutions Vice President of Global Forecasting Sam Fiorani.
“We’ve seen the disappearance of affordable, compact new vehicles over the last decade,” he said.
Detroit automakers swapped out their lineups of compact coupes and sedans in favor of small crossover SUVs,…
Read More: Cheaper cars are selling faster than at the beginning of the year
