Average Vehicle Price a Record $21,750 in ’96

Consumers paid a record $21,750, on average, for a typical new vehicle in 1996, $1,300 more than the previous year, the National Automobile Dealers Assn. said in a report distributed to its members. The 6.4% increase over the 1995 average selling price of $20,450 was due almost entirely to consumers’ continuing shift from passenger cars to more expensive sport-utility vehicles, said NADA chief economist Thomas Webb. “Sport-utilities and a shift to the luxury end of the market were the biggest reasons for the increase,” Webb said. “If you were to look at pricing on any individual vehicle, you would see flat to negative changes in price.” The NADA report also said the average used-vehicle transaction price reached a record $11,600 in 1996, up from $11,050 in 1995. Webb said the increase was due partly to the continued influx of low-mileage, 2-year-old cars to dealers’ lots as leases expired. Franchise dealerships sold more used vehicles than new for the eighth consecutive year in 1996, as used-vehicle sales rose to a record 19.2 million from 18.5 million in 1995.