- The common earner must work 35.6 weeks to repay the typical new automotive purchased in January.
- That’s an enchancment, however principally a cyclical one, because it normally improves this time of 12 months.
A brand new automotive represented 35.6 weeks of labor for the typical American final month. That’s an enchancment – it stood at 36.2 weeks in December.
It’s additionally typical. The determine normally drops in January, as Individuals usually purchase extra luxurious automobiles in December, inflating affordability numbers.
You pay for a automotive with cash, however most of us additionally pay with our time. Few Individuals should purchase a brand new automotive outright in a market the place the typical sale worth final month was $49,191.
So most of us borrow to purchase, and work to repay the mortgage.
The Cox Automotive/Moody’s Analytics Car Affordability Index tracks that, measuring how lengthy the typical earner must work to repay the typical new automotive mortgage. It’s a product of Kelley Blue Ebook father or mother firm Cox Automotive.
Associated: Is Now the Time to Purchase, Promote, or Commerce-In a Automotive?
The index hovered between 33 and 36 weeks for a couple of decade earlier than the COVID-19 disaster upset the automotive market. It peaked at 44 weeks in December of 2022.

It’s now again to the excessive finish of regular, with no assure that can final.
The everyday month-to-month cost decreased 1.4% to $756, which was up 1.7% 12 months over 12 months however on the lowest month-to-month cost since final March.
