Popular Car Prices Spike With Hybrid Sales

There’s no denying high gas prices have driven more demand for hybrid vehicles recently. In May, brands like Honda and Hyundai saw sales of their hybrid models spike. And while every hybrid isn’t accounted for in the CDK Affordability Tracker, many are and that drove the average transaction price for the most popular passenger vehicles in the U.S. over $36,000 for the first time this year. 

It’s also the first time it topped that number in over two years dating back to January 2024. The previous high was $35,775 in January 2025. 

Transaction prices for the most popular trucks fell for the first time this year compared to the previous month, but at $56,805 they’re still nearly 2% higher than a year ago.  

The Results

Four out of the 10 bestselling passenger vehicles saw their prices rise in May and all are equipped with hybrid powertrains standard — Toyota RAV4 and Camry — or offer them as options, Honda CR-V and Civic. And this month, Honda reported significantly more hybrid CR-V sales (up 26%) and modest Civic sales (.3%). 

As we covered previously, the redesigned Toyota RAV4 has been selling for significantly more than it did a year ago when the previous model had gas, hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants. Now as a hybrid standard (and a plug-in arriving at dealers soon), the models selling at dealers are 14% higher than a year ago. That’s $5,168 more. 

Now many months into the redesign, more expensive trims are still the norm and keeping that price high. The base MSRP rose 7%. The Toyota Camry and Honda CR-V were up significantly but far less at 2.5% or $858 and $900 respectively. Savings weren’t as outsized for the models that fell in May with the Nissan Rogue seeing the largest drop at -1.8%. 

The story for the most popular trucks is largely divorced from the hybrid discussion and for the first time since February, there was a month-over-month dip in prices, albeit small, dropping .2% or $116. That might not be enough to fill the tank on certain versions of these trucks. 

But compared to last May, prices are significantly higher and that’s due to the Ford F-150 and Ram 1500 jumping 3.2% and 2.7% respectively. Ford continues to have inventory issues while Ram’s reintroduction of the Hemi are the primary drivers despite more incentives and, in the case of Ford, an employee pricing plan. 

Discounts

Ford’s employee pricing program is a heavily promoted “incentive” program that actually impacts the pricing of the vehicles themselves and isn’t accounted for like a traditional incentive. That’s why Ford Explorer incentives were cut in half from April but transaction prices were off just 1%, still saving buyers approximately $530. That’s likely one reason Explorer sales were up nearly 9% in May.  

The F-150 saw incentives cut by a third but with the employee pricing adjustment, buyers in May spent $293 less than in April.

Likely not a surprise considering the higher overall transaction price, the majority of the most popular passenger vehicles’ incentives were rolled back in May and those that increased were minimal, under $100. The vehicles with the highest price increases also experienced the biggest cuts to incentives. Clearly automakers are tightening incentive spending where it doesn’t seem to be needed. 

But, popular vehicles theoretically shouldn’t need large incentives to sell well. 

How It Works

CDK selected the top 10 bestselling passenger vehicles* of 2025 sold at franchised dealerships (so 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 graphics. 

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.