Transportation

Car Prices Are Starting to Ease as Pandemic Supply-Chain Issues Fade

  • Deals return to US car market, as inventories ramp up
  • Buyers still face high loan rates and sticker prices

Car prices have skyrocketed in recent years.

Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
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The US new-car market is returning to pre-pandemic norms as supply-chain issues resolve, forcing carmakers to ramp up deals to sustain sales growth.

The annual pace of new-car sales likely rose to 15.6 million in June, from 13 million a year ago, according to the average forecast of seven market researchers. Cox Automotive raised its full-year forecast to 15 million, from 14.2 million in March, as deliveries to businesses and rental-car companies, which evaporated during pandemic scarcity, rebounded.