The “new car smell” is becoming a luxury fragrance, rivaling even the most esteemed high-street brands. With the average cost of a new car rising 21% in five years to $48.2K and monthly payments soaring to $767, a staggering 73% of Americans are struggling with affordability. Once a cornerstone of the American Dream, driving a new vehicle is increasingly reserved for the wealthy elite.

• America’s highest-earning households now dominate 55% of new vehicle expenditures, up from 40% in 2020 — while those earning under $41K now represent just 6% of sales.
• Affordable vehicles have nearly vanished, with cars under $30K dropping from more than half of the market in 2012 to just 12.7% today — and buyers seeking prices below $20K are “abandoned to the used-car market.”

Why automakers aren’t hitting the brakes: Despite selling 1M fewer vehicles annually than pre-pandemic levels, Stellantis ($STLA), owner of Detroit’s Big Three, raked in a $34.7B net income last year — up 30% from 2022. The math is simple: manufacturers have discovered it’s more profitable to chase wealthy buyers with premium models than to build affordable cars for the masses. While this strategy fills corporate coffers, it leaves average Americans in the rearview mirror.