The $25k car is going extinct?

Summary

View in browser Issue #353 Sunday, June 29, 2025 Why the $25,000 car is going extinct Can’t find an affordable car anywhere? You’re not the only one. BY MARK DENT In late 2021, Ford released the Maverick, a compact pickup truck. At roughly half the cost and half the weight of the popular F-150, it was meant to be an antidote for excess, and it worked. With a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $19,995 for the base level, the Maverick drew rave reviews from critics and a rush of interest from consumers who wanted a nice pickup without having to splurge (and who never hauled anything, like pretty much every truck buyer). The truck, however, was so popular that dealers sold them, on average, at ~25% above MSRP during the first few months after its release, leading Consumer Reports to name the Maverick as one of the worst deals for a new car. Since then, Ford has consistently hiked the retail price for new models of the Maverick: The 2025 base version retails for $28,145 — a 41% price hike from just four years ago. The Maverick is one example of a contradiction that’s become common in the auto industry: Cheap new vehicles, the type of entry-level car favored by young buyers and many in the middle class, have become vanishingly rare, allowing automakers to hike prices on the scarce number that remain. In February 2025, the share of overall new auto sales under $25k was 4.8%, according to the automotive pricing source Edmunds, down from 23% during the same month in 2019. The Hustle And this isn’t just a case of inflation affecting the entire vehicle market: Kelley Blue Book pricing data across vehicle brands shared with The Hustle reveals that many brands associated with budget-friendly vehicles — such as Hyundai, Dodge, Toyota, and Kia — saw price increases well above the industry average from March 2019 to March 2025. The same data indicates many luxury brands — Audi, Jaguar, Porsche — saw some of the smallest increases. The average prices for those brands a...