Toyota Executive Expects Average New-Car Prices to Exceed $50K in 2023

• A Toyota executive believes average new-car prices will surpass the $50,000 mark in 2023, according to a report by Automotive News.

• Jack Hollis, head of sales for Toyota North America, said demand will keep exceeding the company's ability to build new vehicles, as pandemic-induced supply-chain issues continue in 2023.

• Higher costs of ram materials are also a contributing factor, and while some of these costs are being passed onto the consumers, Hollis said Toyota is "eating it in our own profitability."

In February, average new-car prices reached a new peak, jumping by 4.8 percent from a year ago to $46,229, according to J.D. Power. The consistent increases over the past few years may seem untenable—like the bubble will have to burst soon—but a Toyota executive thinks the average is only going to continue rising. Jack Hollis, head of sales for Toyota's North American division, said he believes the average transaction price will crest the $50,000 mark in 2023, as reported by Automotive News.

Although Hollis believes that an economic recession is already underway, it does not match the usual expectations for how the market in recession should behave, with demand for new cars remaining extremely high. "We will sell every vehicle that we can make," Hollis explained. "The only thing holding us back is the totality of the supply chain and the fragility of it, because we're not back to normal anywhere globally."