New-vehicle affordability improved for the second consecutive month in July as car prices and loan interest rates dipped, automotive services company Cox Automotive said in an Aug. 15 statement.
The number of median weeks of income required to buy an average new vehicle fell from 37 in June to 36.8 in July. The typical monthly payment was $748 last month, down by 0.4 percent from June and the lowest since March. The average monthly payment peaked at $795 in December 2022.
The consecutive months of affordability improvement came after the situation worsened following tariff announcements from the Trump administration, Cox said.
The Trump administration’s 25 percent tariffs on vehicle imports came into effect in April. The policy exempted overlapping duties from being charged on the same vehicle….