It’s hard to make any money selling the USA’s cheapest car. Mitsubishi still offered the Mirage for $16,695 in 2024. But it canceled that car by the 2025 model year, making the Nissan Versa ($17,190) the cheapest car. Now, Nissan is pulling the Versa from the market. So what will be the cheapest car of 2026? Probably a crossover.

The Hyundai Venue / Kia Soul

The cheapest 2025 vehicle, after the Nissan Versa, is the compact Hyundai Venue crossover. Its MSRP sits at $20,200. So you’d think that’ll be the cheapest vehicle of 2026, but there’s a twist. Hyundai just finished an extensive redesign of the Venue, so it may feel justified increasing the MSRP. The corporation may also want the Venue’s cousin, the Kia Soul, to get the publicity of being the cheapest vehicle in America. Kia is, after all, often positioned as the cheaper of the two related companies.

The 2025 Kia Soul LX has an MSRP of $20,490. At every Kia dealership you’ll also pay a $1,395 destination charge. Edmunds predicts your out-the-door cost of a 2026 Kia Soul will be $22,500.

The Chevrolet Trax

The next-cheapest vehicle available in the U.S. is a buzzy new compact crossover out of Detroit. The Chevrolet Trax advertises a $20,500 MSRP. It also has a  $1,395 destination freight charge, at all dealerships. Edmunds predicts your out-the-door cost for a 2026 Chevy Trax will still be about $22,000.

So what will be the cheapest vehicle of 2026? If no one raised MSRPs, it would be the Hyundai Venue. But MSRPs go up every year, so the cheapest would normally depend on how much various prices rise. Normally.

Advertising the cheapest vehicle in the U.S. is a great way to get buyers through the door. So we may actually see a competition for that title. The Ford Escape ($29k), Dodge Hornet ($31,400), Honda Civic sedan ($24,595), and Toyota Corolla ($22,325) are all too expensive to make a play for the title of cheapest vehicle. So we’ll probably see the Chevrolet Trax and Kia Soul undercutting one another for the bragging rights.