Automakers have returned to offering incentives and promoting new vehicles after a few years of tight inventory and elevated prices. Despite that, prices are still higher than they should be, as a new iSeeCars study found that the average new car is priced above MSRP, though they’re slightly less painful than they were a year ago.
iSeeCars found that the average new car price has been marked up to 7.2 percent above MSRP, down from 8.9 percent a year ago. Interestingly, the five most overpriced cars came from two premium brands, while four of the five priced the lowest below MSRP were EVs.
New cars selling highest above MSRP
- Mini Hardtop: 25.5% above MSRP
- Porsche Taycan Sedan: 23.1%
- Porsche Cayenne: 21.9%
- Porsche Macan: 21.3%
- Porsche Taycan Wagon: 20.9%
- Cadillac CT5-V: 20%
- Porsche 718 Boxster: 19.9%
- Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid: 19.4%
- BMW X3 M: 19.4%
- Cadillac CT4-V: 19.3%
Porsche, Mini, and Genesis were the three most overpriced brands overall, with Buick, Acura, and Infiniti landing as the lowest-priced brands. Electric vehicles dominated the list of the 10 most-discounted vehicles:
New cars selling lowest below MSRP
- Hyundai Kona Electric: -4.6%
- VW ID.4: -3.6%
- Ford F-150 Hybrid: -3.3%
- Kia EV6: -2.5%
- Hyundai Ioniq 6: -2.4%
- Nissan Maxima: -2.2%
- Chrysler Pacifica PHEV: -2%
- Nissan Ariya: -1.9%
- Hyundai Ioniq 5: -1.9%
- VW Arteon: -1.8%
Those numbers align with what we saw in the market last year, as EV sales grew, but far slower than many had hoped. iSeeCars executive analyst Karl Brauer said. (For a sense of that, you can look back at our coverage of most marked-up cars and most discounted cars from 2023.)
“The market appears to have reached a saturation point for electric vehicles,” Brauer said, “with both prices and sales struggling compared to a year ago. The high cost of full-size trucks and SUVs, along with the cost of fueling them in the face of inflation and reduced consumer spending power, has dampened demand for these notoriously pricey vehicles.”