Bucking the general trend in the U.S. auto industry that sees average transaction price (ATP) for new vehicles falling, GMC prices for August rose somewhat, increasing 1.7 percent year-over-year and 2 percent month-over-month.
According to a Cox Automotive and Kelley Blue Book report, the average transaction price for a new GMC vehicle reached $65,233 in August, compared to $64,140 during the same period last year. The mild upward trajectory of GMC new-vehicle ATP contrasts with the “buyer’s market” developing across much of the American car market, with overall average prices falling 1.7 percent compared to last year, amounting to $47,870.
As other research indicates, auto dealership inventory is rising while prices are falling, with economic conditions, interest rates, and the approaching U.S. presidential elections all having an effect on the vehicle market. However, GMC has avoided these price-depressing factors so far, joining a number of Japanese and South Korean brands which also have modestly rising prices year-over-year.
GMC prices also went up in spite of generally rising incentives on pickup trucks – like its popular GMC Sierra family of pickups – and SUVs. Full-size pickups overall saw incentives surge to 8.4 percent of ATP, higher than the market-wide average incentive of 7.2 percent, which rose 49 percent year-over-year. The highest incentives of all were for “compact SUVs” or crossovers, reaching 9.2 percent of ATP, and luxury cars at 10 percent of average new vehicle price.
How long GMC prices will continue to rise will likely depend in part on how strongly current trends persist into future months. Erin Keating, a senior analyst at Cox, remarked that “the sales environment is humming along at a muted pace and there is growing pressure to lower prices, just as the overall cost index hit a new record high.”
While automakers are adding incentives, the “buyers’ market” is forcing many dealers to throw in measures of their own to sweeten the deal for potential customers. Inventory has soared 40 percent compared to the number of vehicles in stock back in August 2023. This gives purchasers a much bigger assortment of models to choose from and makes them more likely to avoid a vehicle model or brand that doesn’t offer responsive pricing.
While GMC prices are up, the average price of General Motors vehicles overall from its four core brands is down 2.9 percent since last year, and fell by 1.7 percent since July. Notably, while Big Red’s prices are increasing, they’re doing so more slowly than a year ago, when the brand’s prices rose approximately 6 percent compared to 2022.
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