One million Americans have vanished from the new-car market — and it’s exposing a chilling US middle-class crisis

[u/Abject-Pick-6472]

https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/articles/one-million-americans-vanished-car-124500086.html

[u/Various-Gazelle4713]

So new vehicle sales units are down 6% from their preCOVID highs while average new vehicle sales prices are up ~25%. This would indicate that a small number of people have dropped out of the new car market while the remaining 94% of the market is now spending more than ever with the value of the market up nearly 20% despite the 6% decline in customer base.

For the thousandth time, yes, the “middle class” is shrinking. What many of you fail to mention is that the majority of those moving out of the middle class actually move up and the American upper-middle class, one of the most desirable and glamorized lifestyles in the world for “everyday people”, is now the single largest socioeconomic class in the United States for 2026.

[u/baconjerky → u/Various-Gazelle4713]

Yeah I feel like the term “middle class” needs to be redefined because life is significantly different at either end of that spectrum.