Bestselling Cars Drop in Price in January

Last month, we introduced the CDK Affordability Tracker to illustrate how mathematical averages for every car sold don’t necessarily represent what the “Average Joe” is experiencing at the dealership. 

This month, there are some subtle shifts month over month and year over year, and a split in where the average prices of popular passenger cars are headed versus the bestselling light-duty pickups. These price changes come for a month that saw better-than-expected sales overall, especially considering a severe swath of winter weather across much of the country. 

A full breakdown of how the CDK Affordability Tracker works is below with this month’s results. 

The Results

The $35,642 average price paid for one of the bestselling cars was down $134 from January 2025. Yes, down. It did tick up from last month but at just 0.1% ($43) or about 80 cents on a monthly payment. But December is when you expect holiday sales, and incentives jumped $235 from the year before and nearly as much from November. So a monthly increase isn’t surprising.  

Unfortunately, truck prices went in the opposite direction with the final price paid for one of the top four trucks hitting $56,639, up $535 from January 2025 and $503 from December. 

When you look at the sales prices before discounts, both cars and trucks were up compared to last year and last month but far less on the car side. That still means incentives are keeping prices in check, especially for car buyers.

Discounts

Incentives for passenger vehicles crept a tiny bit higher in January, too, adding $33 onto December’s discounts. The $1,174 average incentive was also up considerably (+32%) from January 2025. 

And while truck prices overall were up, it wasn’t because of a lack of incentive spending because here they also increased. Total discount on trucks grew to $4,479 from last month’s $4,399. They were also up a considerable 12% from January 2025.

How It Works

CDK selected the top 10 bestselling passenger vehicles of 2025 sold at franchised dealerships (no Tesla Model Y) according to automaker end-of-year sales results. Each month, we take the average sale price and then subtract the average incentive amount (both dealer and automaker incentives) for the month and that leads to the average price paid, or transaction price, before taxes. All three are listed in our charts.

The top 10 bestsellers in 2025 were:

1. Toyota RAV4 
2. Honda CR-V 
3. Toyota Camry 
4. Toyota Tacoma* 
5. Chevy Equinox 
6. Toyota Corolla 
7. Honda Civic 
8. Hyundai Tucson 
9. Ford Explorer 
10. Nissan Rogue

We’ve also taken the top four bestselling light-duty pickup trucks in the country to show the difference in one of the most popular segments and one that customers generally don’t cross-shop with passenger vehicles. These include: 

• Ford F-150
• Chevrolet Silverado
• GMC Sierra
• Ram 1500

There are over 250 distinct models for sale in the U.S. These 14** made up 26% of all cars sold in the U.S. in 2025.

*While the Tacoma is a truck, because of its massive popularity, it seemed appropriate to include it as consumer trends are skewing toward rugged options across the board.  

**Passenger cars listed included their hybrid counterparts, some sport trims, etc. Trucks were done similarly. Only electric versions were excluded. For example, the Chevy Equinox EV and the Ford F-150 Lightning aren’t included. But Toyota Corolla Hybrids and Ford F-150 Raptors are included.