2026年3月11日 上午10:03 UTC / 路透社
美国加利福尼亚州洛杉矶，2023年7月12日，汽车在I5高速公路上行驶。路透社/Mike Blake/资料图片 [购买授权，新标签页打开]
- 汽车制造商专注于高端美国市场车型，将平均售价推高至47,000美元
- 许多中低收入购车者被迫转向二手车市场
- 随着中国品牌在全球扩张，价格亲民的问题对美国汽车制造商构成风险
3月11日（路透社）- 美国汽车行业正面临一个棘手的价格亲民度问题，这一问题可能会将更多美国人推向二手车市场，并使汽车制造商易受低价竞争对手的冲击。
立法者将这一问题与党派立场联系起来。美国总统唐纳德·特朗普和其他共和党人指责环保和安全法规。民主党人则指责特朗普的关税政策。
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但路透社对行业销售数据的分析发现了一个更基于市场的原因：汽车制造商提供的经济型车型相对较少，却在展厅中充斥着更大、更豪华的车型，导致美国平均每辆车售价升至约47,000美元。新车市场上趋向于更豪华车型的趋势，是所谓的美国“K型经济”的一个鲜明例子：更富裕的消费者在消费中占比更大，而中低收入人群则面临困境。
结果是：美国购车群体明显转向更富裕阶层，而相当一部分中下层消费者被推向二手车市场。
图表：2016-2025年车辆价格与通胀率年度变化对比。车辆价格波动更大，2021年飙升约18%，2023年低于通胀率，2025年略有回升。
价格合理的车型选择狭窄，让特拉华州居民莎拉·梅里曼感到沮丧。她租的福特Mustang Mach-E电动SUV即将到期，却难以找到负担得起的替代品。
“我很焦虑，因为我现在的汽车月供已经达到700美元，”梅里曼说。
古根海姆合伙人公司高级董事总经理、前福特汽车高管约翰·凯塞萨表示，如果中国品牌有朝一日进入美国市场，价格亲民问题将给传统汽车制造商带来“巨大的脆弱性”。
“风险在于，他们对较不富裕的消费者服务不足，而新进入者会抢走这部分市场，”他说。
“我们在购买更多配置更高的车辆”
在中期国会选举前夕，价格亲民度已成为特朗普和部分立法者关注的焦点。去年12月，特朗普政府官员以降低车辆价格为由，主张削弱燃油经济性标准。
在汽车行业内部，价格亲民度的争论集中在所谓的“平均交易价格”上，即所有新车型中单个买家的平均购车价格。J.D. Power的研究显示，这一数字从2018年12月到去年12月上涨了40%，达到约47,000美元。
“我们在购买更昂贵的车辆，更多的卡车和SUV，更多的高配置车辆，”J.D. Power高级副总裁泰森·乔米尼表示。
购物网站Edmunds的数据显示，2010年，有96款车型的标价达到或超过相对较高的40,000美元。此后，即使考虑通胀因素，这一价格区间的车型数量也有所增加。去年，有156款车型的价格达到或超过了这一水平（约60,000美元）。
与此同时，经济型车型仍然稀缺。2010年，有25款车型价格在20,000美元左右或更低。到去年，这一价格水平（按当前约30,000美元的通胀调整后）仅剩下20款车型。
图表：2010、2015、2020和2025年，高于和低于通胀调整后20,000美元门槛的车型数量。每年高于门槛的车型数量更多，而低价车型随时间减少。
图表：2010、2015、2020和2025年，高于和低于通胀调整后40,000美元门槛的车型数量。每年低于门槛的车型更多，尽管到2025年超过40,000美元的车型有所增加。
结果是购车人群的收入结构发生了显著变化。
S&P全球移动性公司的车辆注册数据显示，美国年收入10万美元或以下的家庭购买新车的比例在过去几年中一直稳定在50%至60%之间，直到本世纪初。去年，这一收入群体仅占新车销售的36%。
“这对我们来说确实是一个K型经济，”圣路易斯地区的汽车经销商布拉德·索厄斯表示，他拥有通用汽车(GM.N)、Jeep制造商 Stellantis (STLAM.MI)和起亚(000270.KS)的经销店。
图表：2018-2025年按家庭收入划分的车辆交易份额。收入低于10万美元的家庭占比从59%下降到30%区间，而收入超过25万美元的家庭占比从个位数上升到略高于20%。
更好的车，更高的利润
尽管近年来车辆销量下降，这一趋势仍帮助汽车制造商获得了更高的利润。多年来，传统的底特律汽车制造商——通用汽车、福特和Stellantis——逐步淘汰了许多小型入门级美国车型，转而生产更多的卡车和SUV。
许多被淘汰的车型利润空间较小。前汽车高管表示，大型SUV和皮卡车的核心利润率可以超过20%。例如，2024年，通用汽车在北美每售出一辆车的营业利润约为4,200美元，高于2018年的3,000美元。
通用汽车高管强调了他们对价格亲民的承诺，并指出其销售的几款小型SUV作为受欢迎的入门级车型，包括雪佛兰Trax和别克Envista小型SUV。
“我们能够打造一个从高端到低端都能盈利的产品组合，”通用汽车首席财务官保罗·雅各布森在上个月的一次活动中表示。
今年2月，福特表示，到本十年末将推出5款售价低于4万美元的车型，其中至少有一款电动车型价格约为3万美元。
Stellantis的Jeep品牌，作为标志性的越野和SUV品牌，凸显了向更豪华车型发展的更广泛趋势。十年前，Jeep在美国的产品线约有六个品牌，起售价在17,000美元至30,000美元之间。
如今，Jeep在美国的车型起售价从约30,000美元到高端的Grand Wagoneer的65,000美元不等，后者价格可超过10万美元。Jeep价格的飙升带来了更高的利润，但美国市场份额大幅下降。
图表：六家汽车制造商的平均车辆交易价格，2010-2025年。所有品牌价格均上涨，尤其是2020年后。到2025年，福特最高接近55,000美元，本田和现代最低接近37,000美元。
Stellantis首席执行官安东尼奥·菲洛萨去年上任后表示，他将价格亲民作为优先事项，以赢回客户。Jeep将LED照明和加热方向盘等附加功能设为免费或降价，公司表示，这与更广泛的降价相结合，使某些车型的价值增加了4,000美元。
“我需要解锁一些你喜欢Jeep的元素，让它们更实惠，”Jeep品牌首席执行官鲍勃·布罗德多夫在12月告诉路透社。
底特律报道：Nora Eckert和Kalea Hall
编辑：Mike Colias和Anna Driver
我们的标准：汤姆森路透社信托原则。[新标签页打开]
Prices for new cars have soared. Here’s one big reason why.
March 11, 2026 10:03 AM UTC / Reuters
Cars ride in traffic along the I5 freeway is shown in Los Angeles, California, U.S., July 12, 2023. REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo [Purchase Licensing Rights, opens new tab]
- Automakers’ focus on higher-end US models has driven average selling prices to $47,000
- Many lower and middle-income car shoppers have been relegated to the used-car lot
- The affordability problem is a risk to US carmakers as Chinese brands expand globally
March 11 (Reuters) – The U.S. car business is grappling with a stubborn affordability problem, one that threatens to relegate more Americans to the used-car lot and leave automakers vulnerable to lower-priced rivals.
Lawmakers have framed the issue around partisan lines. U.S. President Donald Trump and other Republicans blame environmental and safety regulations. Democrats blame Trump’s tariffs.
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But a Reuters review of industry sales data found a more market-based reason: Automakers are offering relatively few budget models, while they’ve filled showrooms with bigger, more upscale models, raising the selling price of the average U.S. vehicle to around $47,000. The trend toward fancier vehicles on the new-car lot is a stark example of the so-called K-shaped U.S. economy: More affluent consumers are driving a larger share of spending, while middle- and lower-income people struggle.
The result: the American car-buying public has shifted decidedly more affluent, while a swath of lower- and middle-class consumers have been relegated to the used-car lot.
Line chart comparing yearly changes in vehicle prices and inflation, 2016–2025. Vehicle prices were more volatile, surging around 18% in 2021, dropping below inflation in 2023, and recovering slightly by 2025.
The narrow selection of reasonably priced choices has been frustrating for Delaware resident Sarah Merriman. She is nearing the end of her lease on a Ford Mustang Mach-E electric SUV, and struggling to find affordable options to replace it.
“I’m stressing out, because I’m already in a $700 car payment right now,” Merriman said.
The affordability issue presents a “tremendous vulnerability” for traditional carmakers if Chinese brands were to someday enter the U.S. market, said John Casesa, senior managing director at Guggenheim Partners and a former Ford Motor (F.N), opens new tab executive.
“It’s a risk that they underserve less affluent consumers, and new entrants come in and steal that business,” he said.
‘WE’RE BUYING MORE LOADED VEHICLES’
Affordability has become a fixation for Trump and some lawmakers ahead of the country’s midterm congressional elections. In December, Trump administration officials cited the need to lower vehicle prices as a rationale for weakening fuel-economy standards.
Inside the car business, the affordability debate centers on the so-called average transaction price, or an average that individual buyers spend to purchase vehicles across all new models. That figure rose 40% from December 2018 through December of last year, to about $47,000, research from J.D. Power shows.
“We’re buying more expensive vehicles. We’re buying more trucks and SUVs. We’re buying more loaded vehicles,” said Tyson Jominy, a senior vice president at J.D. Power.
In 2010, 96 models sold at a sticker price at or above the relatively lofty $40,000 mark, according to data from shopping site Edmunds. The availability of models at that price point, even adjusted for inflation, has proliferated since then. Last year, there were 156 models offered at that level, or roughly $60,000.
Meanwhile, budget models remain scarce. In 2010, there were 25 models priced at around $20,000 or less. By last year, there were only 20 models available at that equivalent price today, or roughly $30,000.
Bar chart of vehicle models above and below an inflation-adjusted $20K threshold in 2010, 2015, 2020, and 2025. Far more models were above the threshold each year, and lower-priced models declined over time.
Bar chart comparing vehicle model counts above and below an inflation-adjusted $40K threshold in 2010, 2015, 2020, and 2025. In every year, more models were under the threshold, though over-$40K models rose by 2025.
The result is a dramatic shift in the income demographics of the car-buying public.
The share of U.S. new-vehicle purchases from households earning $100,000 or less held steady at between 50% to 60% for several years until early this decade, according to vehicle-registration data from S&P Global Mobility. Last year, those $100,000-or-less earners accounted for 36% of new vehicle sales.
“It’s truly a K economy for us,” said Brad Sowers, a car dealer in the St. Louis area who has General Motors (GM.N), opens new tab, Jeep-maker Stellantis (STLAM.MI), opens new tab and Kia (000270.KS), opens new tab dealerships.
Line chart of vehicle transaction shares by household income, 2018–2025. Under-$100K households decline from 59% to the mid-30% range, while over-$250K households rise from low single digits to just above 20%.
NICER CARS, BIGGER PROFITS
The trend has helped automakers generate larger profits despite lower vehicle sales in recent years. Over the years, the traditional Detroit carmakers – GM, Ford and Stellantis – phased out many smaller, entry-level U.S. models in favor of more trucks and SUVs.
Many of those discontinued car lines had lower profit margins. Meanwhile, core profit margins on large SUVs and pickup trucks can exceed 20%, former auto executives say. In 2024, for example, GM made an operating profit of about $4,200 per vehicle sold in North America, up from the $3,000 in 2018.
GM executives have touted their commitment to affordability, and point to several small SUVs that it sells as popular entry-level offerings, including the Chevrolet Trax and Buick Envista small SUVs.
“We’ve been able to create a portfolio where we can make money top to bottom,” GM CFO Paul Jacobson said at an event last month.
In February, Ford said it will have five models under $40,000 available by the end of the decade, including at least one electric model priced around $30,000.
Stellantis’ Jeep brand, the iconic off-road and SUV name, highlights the broader trend to more upscale vehicles. A decade ago, Jeep’s U.S. lineup of about a half-dozen nameplates ranged in starting price from around $17,000 to $30,000.
Today, starting prices on Jeep’s U.S. vehicles range from about $30,000 to $65,000 for the upscale Grand Wagoneer, which can run to more than $100,000. The surge in Jeep pricing coincided with healthier profits but a steep drop in U.S. market share.
Line chart of average vehicle transaction prices for six automakers, 2010–2025. Prices rise for all, especially after 2020. By 2025, Ford is highest near $55K, while Honda and Hyundai are lowest near $37K.
Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa, who took over last year, has said he is making affordability a priority to win back customers. Jeep made add-ons like LED lighting and heated steering wheels complimentary or less expensive, a move that in combination with broader price cuts is adding up to $4,000 in value on certain models, the company said.
“I need to unlock some of the things that you love about Jeep, make them more affordable,” Jeep brand CEO Bob Broderdorf told Reuters in December.
Reporting by Nora Eckert and Kalea Hall in Detroit; Editing by Mike Colias and Anna Driver
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