U.S. consumers looking for the least expensive new vehicle option are facing both bad and good news.
The bad news is that the U.S. market no longer has a new vehicle with an average MSRP below $20,000. According to Kelley Blue Book, the all-but-gone Mitsubishi Mirage was the last hope.
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The good news is that the new cheapest car, the Nissan Versa, carries a fairly reasonable MSRP of $22,315. But the other bad news is that the Versa is dead.
As Kelley points out, Nissan reportedly ended production of the Versa in December. Josh Clifton, senior product communications manager for the automaker, revealed to The Drive that the Versa died so Nissan’s product strategy could live.
He said, “Nissan remains committed to offering affordable and stylish vehicles in the sedan segment with models like Sentra and Altima, while also offering strong value in the compact SUV segment with the Kicks.”
According to Cars.com, there are still plenty of 2026 vehicles like the Chevy Trax or Hyundai Venue SE available for less than $25,000. But as the cheapest models continue to fall, the average U.S. price for a new vehicle continues to climb.
Kelley said the average transaction price for a new vehicle in January was $49,191, an all-time high for the month. However, at $51,288, the average MSRP was only 2.1% higher year over year, an increase Kelley said was lower than long-term averages.
Erin Keating, executive analyst at Cox Automotive, said, “Consumers are still finding plenty of options below the industry average, especially in core segments like best-selling compact SUVs, but the disappearance of true entry-level vehicles continues to lift the floor higher.”
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