Question of the Day: What Kind of Cheap Car Do We Need?

Affordability. It’s a word used so often in automotive circles it almost conjures up the anger we all feel about this time about political ads. 

Automakers, analysts, and journalists all think they’ve got an idea of what that means. More precisely, they all think they’ve got an actual “less than” number. Currently, that’s less than $30,000. I could swamp you with statistics about how many new cars for less than $20,000 were available a decade ago compared to right — today it’s zero. 

But what is an “affordable” new car … or vehicle more precisely. Does it cost less than $30K? $25K? $20K? Is it a car at all? In the 1970s, dirt cheap compact pickups were all the rage. The current “cheapest” car in the U.S. is the 2026 Hyundai Venue, which is a subcompact crossover.

So we want to know: What is the ideal “affordable” vehicle? How much does it cost? What does it come with? Where is it made? Tell us if it’s a small hatchback starting at $17,000 with only an AM radio — gotta obey the law and Congress says new vehicles MUST come with AM Radios. 

Tell us what you think and we’ll pass it along to every automotive executive we talk to. Who knows? Maybe one will show up.

[Images: Ford, Hyundai]

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