Liam Denning, Columnist

Detroit Needs a New Direction

Growing unaffordability of new vehicles is a problem not only for drivers but for US automakers.

August 18, 2025 at 10:30 AM UTC

Corrected

August 18, 2025 at 12:01 PM UTC

Liam Denning is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering energy. A former banker, he edited the Wall Street Journal’s Heard on the Street column and wrote the Financial Times’s Lex column.

Sub-$30,000 vehicles have all but disappeared from US dealerships. — Sub-$30,000 vehicles have all but disappeared from US dealerships.
Photographer: Kent Nishimura/Bloomberg

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The sticker price is too damn high. Growing unaffordability of new vehicles in the US is a problem not only for drivers but for Detroit itself. It demands a shift in strategy, one hinted at by Ford Motor Co.’s electric-vehicle event last week.

The latest inflation figures added more evidence of Americans struggling to buy new cars and trucks. While new-vehicle inflation in July was low, used-vehicle prices accelerated. Parts inflation is also picking up, and this was the first month in more than three years when used-vehicle and parts prices increased faster than headline inflation.