If you've shopped for a new car recently, the success of that endeavor probably had a lot to do with where you stand on the financial ladder. For some, higher prices and interest rates mean putting off a purchase altogether. For others, those factors influence whether to finance the car or just write a check. And it turns out that the people who can just write that check are becoming the main drivers of the automotive industry.

 

According to Cox Automotive's latest analysis, rising loan rates could, in theory, be offset by more buyers simply paying cash. So sure, it's easy to avoid interest when you have the cash sitting in a bank account waiting to go to a car purchase. For everybody else, the cost of cars is getting out of reach, and the cost of simply borrowing for those cars is getting harder to work around.