This Is the Cheapest Car in America

By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Apr 21, 2:31PM EDT · Published Mar 27, 9:46AM EDT

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This Is the Cheapest Car in America — © Courtesy of Chevrolet

Americans have actually run into problems buying cars. Shortages have been triggered by an extremely low supply of the chips used in electronic and navigation systems. Additionally, supply chain issues have cut the availability of other parts. The chip shortage could last well beyond the end of this year.

The problem has damaged both dealers and manufacturers. Dealers often have few vehicles, and the small number they get may go to customers within days. Manufacturers have shutters assembly lines, and their bottom lines have been affected.

The low supply has pushed up prices. Not only have they hit all-time highs for new cars. Disappointed new car buyers have turned to the used car market, which has pressured their prices up as well.

Another new wrinkle for buyers has been created by high gasoline prices. These recently surged above $4 for the average gallon of regular nationwide. In some areas of the United States, the figure has passed $5. Cars that get high gas mileage have become extremely attractive.
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The average price of a new car sold in 2021 was a staggering $43,072. That is equivalent to the entire annual household income of about a third of Americans.

Car and Driver recently analyzed new car prices to find the lowest ones available. Notably, its editors reported, “The cheapest new car sold in the U.S. is nearly $13,000 cheaper than the average price of a used car.”

The least expensive new car available in America is the Chevrolet Spark with a base price of $14,595. The Spark will be discontinued next year. Chevy puts the price of the Spark slightly lower than the Car and Driver analysis. Chevy’s number is $13,600.

The Spark gets very good gas mileage at 30 MPG in the city and 38 MPG on the highway according to the EPA estimate. That is mostly because the Spark has a tiny 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine, which puts out only 98 HP.

The Spark gets relatively good reviews. Car and Driver rates it 7 out of 10. Kelley Blue Book rates it 4.5 out of 5, and Motor Trend rates it 7.1 out of 10.
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Click here to read about the most expensive cars in America.

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.