These numbers are largely meaningless due to the current state of the supply chain. From the Chevy article above...
Speaking on the data from Kelley Blue Book, analyst Kayla Reynolds notes that "The record-high prices in September are mostly a result of the mix of vehicles sold." With chip shortages limiting production across the industry, dealers are short on new cars to sell. By the law of supply and demand, that pushes prices higher. Many dealers are cutting incentives with more buyers in the market than cars at the moment. Furthermore, automakers are focusing on producing high-margin vehicles with what limited stock they have, further driving up the average transaction price.
It all sounds very rosy for Chevrolet and General Motors, but the average transaction price doesn't tell the whole story. Chevrolet only shifted 286,257 vehicles in Q3, compared to 449,134 over the same period last year. Without the parts to make more vehicles, the company simply can't shift the numbers it's used to. It's a huge drop, and a significant part of why GM is looking set to post its worst sales figures since 1958. It also impacts on profits, with higher transaction prices unlikely to make up for drastically lower volumes.
So they raised their average by losing most of their lower ticket sales. It would be like McDonalds running out of small hamburger buns and only selling their larger burgers. Their average ticket would go up, but their overall sales would drop drastically. No company would continue to do that by choice, so it stands to reason that this is a temporary situation.
