Not so long ago, in a United States not so far away, car buyers looking for a new ride under the relatively bargain price point of $20,000 had a dozen options from which to choose. Just five years later, that car buyer has one—the Mitsubishi Mirage—and even that is looking to head for the annals of cost-conscious history. As the AP reports, Americans are increasingly searching out SUVs and trucks, which, combined with a soaring of prices during the pandemic, has led to sticker shock on car lots. This current version of the Mirage, which reached US dealerships a decade ago, sold for an average of $19,205 last month, according to data from Cox Automotive. (A few other new models have starting prices under $20,000, their actual purchase prices, with options and shipping, exceed that figure.)
The Mirage costs less than half of what the average US new vehicle does. That average is now just above $48,000—25% more than before the pandemic struck. The scarcity of small cars helps explain why new vehicles cost so much: Detroit's Big Three—General Motors, Stellantis, and Ford—began to jettison compact and subcompact cars about five years ago. Low profit margins for small cars and consumers' increasing shift to SUVs and trucks made the decision easy. Likewise, Toyota and Honda later halted US sales of subcompacts. Then a pandemic-related computer-chip shortage slashed global auto production. Vehicles were suddenly in short supply at a time of high demand. Prices shot up.
Another factor that has swollen average prices is that 32 models in the United States now have selling prices above $100,000, per Cox. As recently as 2018, only 12 models sold for over 100 grand. At an average sale price of $29,000, even most used vehicles cost more than a new Mirage. A new Mirage, which costs about the same as a 4-year-old Chevrolet Cruze or Mazda 3, has a five-year, 60,000-mile bumper-to-bumper warranty. Despite the low price, US sales of the Mirage have been sluggish. Mitsubishi sold only 5,316 in the first half of the year—44% below the same period in 2022. And it might not be available at all in a couple of years. The trade publication Automotive News reported last week that Mitsubishi will stop selling the Mirage by mid-decade.
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