October's 6.7% drop followed a spike in late summer before subsidies expired.

COVID-19 changed the used car market as supply chain constraints and rising demand pushed prices higher. In 2025, those ripple effects are still being felt.

That may be in part because wealthy consumers especially have tried to get ahead of tariffs by purchasing costlier items now.

New vehicle sales jumped in the spring as consumers tried to get ahead of tariff-induced price increases. Sales have since cooled, but major price hikes haven’t yet arrived.

End-of-year deals, along with replacement of vehicles lost to hurricanes and anticipation of higher prices in 2025, may be prodding buyers.

“SUV” used to be synonymous with “gas guzzling.” But new EPA data shows that small SUVs as a category are now more efficient and less polluting than sedans.

Several carmakers reported soft sales in the third quarter, and average loan rates for new cars exceeded 7%.

The vehicle industry is surprisingly resilient this year. Many people have been waiting for lower costs but can’t hold out any longer.

Many companies have focused on building more expensive SUVs and fewer affordable compact cars. That’s causing a mismatch with current demand.

For a long time, the only way for dealers to buy at wholesale used car auctions was to go in person. Now, many of those auctions take place online.