As many are well aware, new vehicle pricing has remained at lofty levels in recent years, even as inventory has improved. This can largely be attributed to strong demand, leading to some rather stubborn average transaction pricing results. We have started to see things cool slightly as of late, with Ford Motor Company average transaction pricing (ATP) declining by 2.8 percent from January to February, but it remained mostly stable in March, too.
According to new data from Cox Automotive, Ford Motor Company ATP – which includes the Ford and Lincoln brands – closed out March 2025 at $54,200, which is a mere 0.7 percent lower than February’s figure of $54,563, as well as 1.1 percent higher than March 2024, when it was $53,622. In terms of individual brands, Ford average transaction pricing declined by 1.2 percent to $53,414 in March, while Lincoln increased by 4.7 percent to $68,281. The overall market posted a decrease of just 0.2 percent in ATP from $47,577 in February to $47,462 in March, which was 0.3 percent higher than March 2024’s figure of $47,342. As for incentives, they were flat compared to February at 7.0 percent of ATP, but also 5.0 percent higher than year ago.
The fact that new vehicle average transaction pricing remains stubborn can be attributed to a couple of factors, according to Cox Automotive. For starters, new vehicle sales in March topped 1.59 million units, which is the best sales volume month in nearly four years and 30 percent higher than February – something one can attribute to people rushing to buy cars before tariffs take effect and potentially raise prices.
“All signs point to higher prices this summer, as existing ‘pre-tariff’ inventory is sold down to be eventually replaced with ‘tariffed’ inventory,” said Erin Keating, Executive Analyst, Cox Automotive. “How high prices rise for consumers is still very much to be determined, as each automaker will handle the price puzzle differently. Should the White House posture hold, our team is expecting new vehicles directly impacted by the 25 percent tariff to see price increases in the range of 10-15 percent. In addition, considering the market dynamics, we also anticipate seeing at least a five percent increase in prices of vehicles not subjected to the full 25 percent tariff. There is no way around it: Tariffs are going to push new-vehicle prices higher in the U.S.”
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