CHICAGO -

New-car prices are at all-time highs. Auto industry digital marketplace Cars.com expects that to continue.

We are in an affordability crisis, the company says.

Because of that, Cars.com expects more consumers to consider leasing, and the company predicts continued growth for certified pre-owned car sales.

That is one of the “Top 5 Trends That Will Shape the Next Decade in Automotive,” according to Cars.com.

“Consumers are stretched a little thin to begin with,” Cars.com executive editor Joe Wiesenfelder said in a phone interview with Auto Remarketing.

Leasing, pre-owned and affordability

Because of that, certified pre-owned is a great option for people who might otherwise put themselves in a bind and perhaps borrow more than they should to get a new car, he said.

He also wishes more consumers would consider leasing, because that’s what people are doing in a sense when they finance a car, make payments, and still don’t own it in the end.

“They are buying cars that they end up not owning at the time they turn them in. And that is leasing,” Wiesenfelder said.

He continued, “So leasing in a lot of ways is probably a better choice for people, especially at a time like this where technology is changing so rapidly,” he said.

Cars as ‘command central’

That leads to another trend that Cars.com says will shape the next decade in automotive: Cars becoming a supercomputer or “mobile command center” in which the vehicle’s operating system and hardware could be updated. According to Cars.com, that would allow older cars to bring the same level of safety and capability as the newest cars on the lot.

“Cars now very slowly are getting to where they’re going to start to update and evolve, and that’s something that I’m looking forward to,” Wiesenfelder said, adding that he expects more updating capability in vehicles over the next decade.

“But in the interim, what’s happening is we’re buying a car that’s in a lot of ways frozen in time, technologically,” he said.

The eCommerce race

But the auto industry overall is far from frozen in time. Change seems to be a common theme in Cars.com’s study, which states that car dealers are implementing new technology that could “change the car buying process forever.”

“But due to the expensive, personal and emotional nature of the car purchase, in the next decade most consumers will still want and need to ‘touch’ and ‘feel’ their new vehicle before collecting the keys,” Cars.com stated in the news release covering its five trends.

Wiesenfelder said some people are satisfied with choosing a car online and getting delivery of the vehicle from the dealer.

“But that’s not going to be the overwhelming majority of people,” he said.

A vehicle is a very complex product, he added. It’s a big investment. Buyers want to touch it, drive it and experience it, he said.

“And for that, you have dealerships,” he said.

Dealers who are willing to meet customers on their own turf are the ones that have benefitted, Wiesenfelder said. Some customers want to negotiate through e-mail and chat, and dealers willing to accommodate that can benefit, he added.

Accommodating customers who want to deal with one salesperson only for as much of the process as possible can pay off for those flexible dealers, he said.

“I think we'll continue to see that type of thing as … technology changes, and … preferences change anytime the seller is willing to make some changes and evolve along with the needs of the shopper, and it ultimately ends up paying off,” he said.

Car buying in an election year

Cars.com notes that assuming a presidential election will directly impact auto is a misconception.

But this election cycle is unique, the company said. An increase in tariffs on foreign-manufactured vehicles or parts could further affect sales.

Some automakers claim to have made small changes in anticipation of the United States Mexico Canada Agreement, according to Cars.com. But the legislation had not been ratified in the United States as of press time and might not pass in a divided Congress, the company said.

“Even if it does replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, we suspect its effect on domestic manufacturing and future installments of the Cars.com American Made Index will be more evolutionary than revolutionary.” Cars.com wrote.

Electric, autonomous and demand

Although Cars.com expects growth of electric vehicle adoption to continue, those vehicles “will not be mainstream in the next decade,” the company writes.

As for autonomous vehicles, they “can't get out of the test phase,” Cars.com writes.

But Wiesenfelder wanted to preface his comments with Auto Remarketing by stating that Cars.com has a great deal of experience with electric and plug-in vehicles and “we really liked them.” The company owned and tested the earliest versions of the Nissan LEAF, Chevrolet Volt and others.

“We like them. We need them. We think they’re very important,” he said.

But in considering the market and what the vehicles deliver versus their shortcomings, along with cost and demand, he said “we’re just not sure that demand and natural organic demand is there to support the amount of enthusiasm and development we’re seeing among the automakers in the U.S. market.”

The story is similar in the area of autonomous, he said. Cars.com likes what it sees in what Wiesenfelder calls “semi-autonomous” features that make driving easier, such as adaptive cruise control and some steering assist features.

But being able to buy an autonomous vehicle that allows you to take a nap on the way to work? That’s another thing entirely, he said.

It might not be a long time before those types of cars exist, “because technologically it’s possible,” Wiesenfelder said.

But for the vehicles to be affordable for average buyers, and for those buyers to be able to visit their dealership of choice, acquire the car of their choice from the brand of their choice and pay a reasonable amount for it, that could be many years from now, he said.

That goes back to Wiesenfelder’s earlier point that people are already spreading themselves thin to buy a vehicle.

“This technology is just going to add to the cost, and I haven’t even gotten into all the other obstacles about how there are technological hurdles, and … legislative hurdles,” he said.

“There’s a long way to go,” he said.

He continued, “Unfortunately, with autonomy, technically all they would have to do to succeed is be better than human drivers, who aren't very good, frankly. But the expectation will be that they need to be perfect, which is an unfair expectation, but I suspect that’s what everyone will expect from them.”