Twelve months ago, you could buy multiple new vehicles for less than $20k. But by the 2026 model year, the $20k will be dead and gone. It’s unclear whether the Chevrolet Trax, Kia Soul, or Hyundai Venue will be the cheapest vehicle of 2026. But it’s almost certain it will set you back more than $20k.
Until the end of the 2024 model year, Mitsubishi still offered the Mirage for $16,695. It was a compact hatchback assembled in Thailand and sold worldwide, including in the U.S. Once Mitsubishi pulled the Mirage out of the U.S. market the cheapest car was the Nissan Versa.
Nissan assembled its Versa for North America in Mexico. It is far-and-away the most popular vehicle in Mexico. One thing that makes the Versa so cheap is the manual transmission in its entry-level trims. The 2025 Nissan Versa’s MSRP is $17,190. But that car is also disappearing from the U.S. market after the 2025 model year. Here are the next three cheapest vehicles with their current MSRPs.
- Hyundai Venue 2025 MSRP is $20,200 (Plus a $1,395 destination charge).
- Kia Soul 2025 MSRP is $20,400 (Plus a $1,395 destination charge).
- Chevrolet Trax 2025 MSRP is $20,500 (plus a $1,395 destination freight charge).
So which of these compact crossovers will be the cheapest in 2026? Edmunds doesn’t yet have a prediction for the out-the-door pice of the Hyundai Venue. That may be because Hyundai just redesigned its smallest crossover available in the U.S., so the automaker will likely increase the price more than normal.
Automakers almost always increase every MSRP, every model year. Edmunds predicts your out-the-door cost of a 2026 Kia Soul will be $22,500. In addition, Edmunds predicts your out-the-door cost for a 2026 Chevy Trax will still be about $22,000.
That said, either of these automakers may want the bragging rights that come with having the cheapest vehicle on the market. It’s a great way to get potential customers through the door, even if they decide to buy something more expensive. If so, either automaker could keep their cheapest vehicle’s 2026 MSRP the same as 2025, or even drop the price to undercut one another. But with destination charge, it’s unlikely that any vehicle will have an out-the-door price under $20k in 2026. That era is officially over.
If you want to shop the final car under $20k, you can configure a new Nissan Versa–before they’re all gone.
