One million Americans have ditched the new-car market since the decade began, driven off by sky-high prices, punishing interest rates, and pricey fuel, according to a new report. Before 2020, the U.S. was shifting roughly 17 million vehicles annually. Analysts now expect no more than 16 million this year, with the average price now near $50,000, the Wall Street Journal reported. President Donald Trump’s tariffs are deepening the squeeze, with Ford alone swallowing around $2 billion in tariff costs last year. The exodus has blindsided an industry that long assumed sales would rebound to pre-pandemic levels, the paper reported. “This is a real threat to the whole industry,” Volvo chief commercial officer Erik Severinson told the newspaper, warning the slump exposed “something more fundamental which is wrong in the general economy.” The Journal says many buyers are clinging to their old motors, with the typical U.S. car now hitting a record age of around 13 years.
Read it at Wall Street Journal
