Modest-income buyers being priced out of new-vehicle market

By TOM KRISHER
AP Auto Writer

DETROIT (AP) — Two years after the pandemic tore through the economy, America’s auto market looks something like this: Prices are drastically up. Supply is drastically down. And gasoline costs drastically more. The result? A widening disparity between the richest buyers and everyone else. The most affluent buyers keep plunking down big money for new vehicles, including the least fuel-efficient among them — trucks, SUVS, large sedans. As for the rest of America, millions are feeling increasingly priced out of the new-vehicle market. They are competing instead for a shrunken supply of used autos, especially smaller, less expensive ones that consume less fuel.