DETROIT (AP) — Just five years ago, a price-conscious auto shopper in the United States could choose from among a dozen new small cars selling for under $20,000. Now, there’s just one: The Mitsubishi Mirage.
At a time when Americans increasingly want pricey SUVs and trucks rather than small cars, the Mirage remains the lone new vehicle whose average sale price is under 20 grand — a figure that once marked a kind of unofficial threshold of affordability. With prices — new and used — having soared since the pandemic, $20,000 is no longer much of a starting point for a new car.
When she set out to replace her 2008 Ford Focus, Schaeppi was surprised to find no small cars available at the dealers she visited — at any price.The scarcity of small cars at dealerships helps explain why the average new vehicle costs so much: Detroit's Big Three automakers — General Motors, Stellantis and Ford — began to jettison the compact and subcompact car business about five years ago.
At White Bear Mitsubishi near St. Paul, Minnesota, where Schaeppi bought her vehicle, used cars are the main competition for the Mirage, according to Richard Herod III, the dealership's managing partner. But because so few new small cars were sold in recent years, he said, the used-vehicle selection is low and prices are high.
Once the Mirage disappears, Mitsubishi's least expensive vehicle would be the Outlander Sport small SUV. It starts around $24,600, which includes shipping.
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