Recent sales growth in light trucks is driving the average vehicle transaction price up, according to car shopping network Edmunds.com. This year, that price hit an all time high, and it is expected to rise again in 2017.
The 2016 average vehicle transaction price of $34,077 (USD) per vehicle is a 2.7 per cent increase from 2015, and a 12.6 per cent increase from 2011. Next year, Edmunds predicts, it will increase to $35,000 (USD).
“Although automakers have ushered in a crop of smaller, lower-priced vehicles, strong market demand for SUVs and trucks have caused overall prices to rise,” says Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds’ executive director of industry analysis. “This is yet another example of how trucks and SUVs are driving change in the market and influencing every part of the industry.”
Light truck sales now comprise 62 per cent of the market. Typically more expensive, and with more options than passenger cars, light trucks have become more accessible to buyers because of leasing, longer finance terms and low interest rates, says Edmunds.
“The flip side of this trend is that higher prices are putting a bit of a squeeze on the market for lower cost, used vehicles,” says Caldwell.
