The auto industry has changed a lot since 2016

Table of Contents

The average new car price has risen from just over $34,000 in 2016 to more than $50,000 today.
The Ford F-Series pickup truck was the best-selling vehicle in 2016 and remains the top seller today.
The average monthly new car payment has increased from $506 in 2016 to $748 in the third quarter of 2025.

The year was 2016, and the U.S. auto industry was in a very different place.

Your social media feed is probably full of nostalgic posts yearning for the yesterday of a decade ago. And if you’re in the market for a new car these days, you might also be looking back fondly on 2016.

The average price of a new car then was just over $34,000. Now it tops $50,000. The best selling vehicle then was a Ford pick up truck. The best selling vehicle today is still a Ford pick up truck.

With all of that in mind, the USA TODAY Cars team took a look at the some of the key auto industry statistics for 2016 and compared them to today.

What was the average car price in 2016?

The average new car price in January 2016 was $34,112, according to Kelley Blue Book.

These were the average price for some of the top manufacturers at that time:

Volkswagen | $38,901
General Motors | $38,597
Ford | $36,328
Fiat Chrysler | $34,504
Toyota | $31,617
Nissan | $27,880
Honda | $27,759
Hyundai-Kia | $25,451

What were best selling cars in 2016?

The best selling vehicle in 2016 was the Ford F-Series pick up, according to the Cars.com website. Here’s the top 10 best sellers for 2016:

Ford F-Series | 820,799
Chevrolet Silverado | 574,876
Ram Pickup | 489,418
Toyota Camry | 388,618
Toyota Corolla | 378,210
Honda Civic | 366,927
Honda CR-V | 357,335
Toyota RAV4 | 352,154
Honda Accord | 345,225
Nissan Rogue | 329,904

Where we are now?

Car shoppers paid a record average of $50,326 for new cars in December 2025, according to Kelley Blue Book. The average December price for new cars was up 0.8% over November’s average of $49,814, according to the group.

The best selling car in 2025 was still the Ford F-Series, with 828,832 vehicles sold.

The average price of a three-year old used car in the third quarter of 2025 was $31,067, according to Edmunds. The average used car in 2016 was $19,189, according to the group.

Also in the third quarter of 2025, the average new car payment was $748, and the average payment for a used car was $532, according to Experian. The average new car payment in 2016 was $506, according to the group.