No it's not your imagination. Affordable new cars have disappeared.

I'm not sure what I'd be driving today if I didn't have my McLaren P1.

In fact, only 23 cars, or 14% of new car inventory in the US, cost less than $30,000, according to Cars Commerce’s Q1 2025 Auto Market Review, as affordable cars become increasingly rare in America.

What’s more, all but three of those — the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, and the soon to be discontinued Chevrolet Malibu — are produced outside the US, according to Cars Commerce. That means prices are only likely to go up with the Trump administration’s tariffs.