With all of the hoopla going on 2022 car sales prices skyrocketing, you wouldn’t expect that in 2022 the price of some brands would be selling for less than in 2021. But there are, and they might surprise you. In 2022, both Lexus and Roll-Royce are selling for less than last year. 

Aren’t new cars selling for a lot more in 2022?

According to CarGurus, the average price of a new vehicle is $31,000. That’s over 16 percent more than last year. Honestly, we expected car sales prices to be higher, but it’s still high no matter how you look at it. That number is based on millions of sales in 2022 tracked from the first of January to the end of May. 

But get this, vans are tracking almost 50 percent higher than they were at this time last year. Minivans and wagons are next at 25 percent higher. And pickup trucks? Their average price is only five percent more than in 2021. 

But back to Lexus and Rolls-Royce prices. In the last 90 days, Lexus automobiles are selling for 20 percent less than in 2021. The average Lexus selling price is now $33,209. And in the past month, the price has slipped even more by .70 percent. So the gap is closing, but still is a good sign for buyers. 

Does Rolls-Royce selling for less surprise you?

As for Rolls-Royce, the average price now is $175,000. That’s 2.26 percent below what it cost to purchase one last year. But the drop seems to be accelerating. In the last 90 days, it is down over two percent, and in the last month, prices have slipped over one percent. That may not seem like much. 

But one percent of $175,000 is $1,700. That’s not much for buyers in the market for a Rolls. But it shows that at least for now, Rolls-Royce cars can’t ride the pandemic, supply chain, and microchip shortage wave.  

The only American-made vehicle that comes close to this phenomenon is the Jeep Wagoneer. It’s selling for the same as in 2021. Its average selling price is $90,000. But in the last 90 days, it is down over 15 percent. And in May alone, it was selling for $1,000 less than last year. So, we don’t know if this is a sign that the wind is out of the Wagoneer sails, or if this is just a speed bump?

In all, new car prices are way up from last year

But these are definitely outliers. Prices are up for virtually every new car, with the popular Chevy Silverado up almost 15 percent, and Ford products up 12 percent. Even Chrysler, with only two models in its lineup, is up almost 25 percent. So it’s all backflips and rainbows for manufacturers and dealers. 

But dealers need to be concerned. Just today, Ford’s CEO Jim Farley said the future for dealerships is not selling cars but customer service. This follows the Tesla model, which is also the direction Mercedes is looking to introduce. So we may be seeing the slow end of manufacturer dealerships selling new cars.