Cox Automotive Auto Market Report: July 22

Cox Automotive’s Auto Market Report video delivers a comprehensive analysis of the current automotive market. Chief Economist Jonathan Smoke leads our effort to translate data and trends into actionable insights. This video covers a wide range of topics, including consumer spending patterns, consumer sentiment, retail vehicle sales, financing rates, supply dynamics, pricing trends and leading indicators from Cox Automotive’s extensive data ecosystem.

Download this week’s presentation

Report Summary – July 22, 2025

Key Highlights

• Retail sales for new and used vehicles are rising in July, signaling renewed consumer momentum.
• Loan rates are easing from 25-year highs, with low-interest financing reaching levels last seen in mid-2022.
• Dealer activity is up year over year on Autotrader and Dealertrack, pointing to strong consumer engagement.

Consumer Spending Rebounds

Consumer spending growth, which cooled in May and stabilized in June, is now accelerating back to April levels.

• Weekly spending trends show a renewed upward trajectory, suggesting stronger consumer confidence.
• The Index of Consumer Sentiment rose 0.7% in July after a 3.6% dip in June, reflecting cautious optimism.

Retail Sales Strengthen

• Retail sales for both new and used vehicles are climbing early in July.
• New-vehicle sales are trending higher compared to previous years.
• Used-vehicle sales are also showing gains, reinforcing broad market strength

Financing Conditions Improve

Low APR financing offers have surged to their highest levels since mid-2022.

• The share of loans with interest rates below 3% has increased significantly.
• Average loan rates have declined to 9.10% for new vehicles and 14.01% for used, easing affordability pressures.

Inventory Levels Tighten

Supply for both new and used vehicles is declining in July.

• New vehicle days’ supply has dropped over the past few weeks.
• Used vehicle inventory is slightly lower early in the month, indicating tighter market conditions.

Price Trends Show Modest Declines

Retail and wholesale prices are softening, with wholesale seeing slightly larger drops.

• The average retail price for MY 2022 vehicles fell 0.2% last week.
• Wholesale prices declined 0.4%, continuing a trend of gradual depreciation.

Cox Automotive Leading Indicators

Cox Automotive Leading Indicators for mid-July paint a mixed picture of market activity, with some metrics softening while others remain steady.

• Dealer leads are up year over year so far in July on Autotrader, but are down on Kelley Blue Book. Leads are up for the month so far compared to June on both sites.
• Unique leads per dealer are down year over year so far in July for both new and used vehicles on websites hosted by Dealer.com, but new and used leads are up for the month compared to June.
• Unique credit applications per dealer on Dealertrack increased by 9% year over year last week, with the trend remaining stable week over week in aggregate and stable and strong in both new and used loans.
• Service trends on Xtime, relative to last year, declined in the week ending July 12, as completed appointments were down 4% year over year.

Jonathan Smoke

Chief Economist

Jonathan Smoke leads Cox Automotive’s economic and industry insights team, which tracks key metrics and trends impacting both the wholesale and retail markets for vehicles informed by the proprietary data from the company’s businesses and platforms. For 28 years, Smoke has focused on translating data and trends into relevant actionable insights for the industries that represent the biggest purchases that consumers make in their lifetimes: real estate and automotive. Smoke joined Cox Automotive in 2017.