AP sports week in pictures: A gallery of game action, celebrations and more

A collection of some of the top sports photos in the past week by AP photographers around the world.

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Ineos Britannia races during the Louis Vuitton 37th America's Cup Day 4 race 5 in Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

Los Angeles Dodgers Shohei Ohtani celebrates in the locker room after their win against the New York Mets in Game 6 of a baseball NL Championship Series, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Washington Wizards forward Patrick Baldwin Jr. puts up a floater in the first half during a preseason NBA basketball game against the Brooklyn Nets, Monday, Oct. 14, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)

Central Florida cheerleaders perform on the field during the second half of an NCAA college football game against Cincinnati, Saturday, Oct. 12, 2024, in Orlando, Fla. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack)

Argentina's Lionel Messi jumps for the ball challenged by Bolivia's Carmelo Algaranaz during a World Cup 2026 qualifying soccer match at Monumental stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)

Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, right, heads the ball ahead of Scotland's Grant Hanley during the UEFA Nations League soccer match between Scotland and Portugal at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland, Tuesday, Oct. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)

The New York Liberty celebrate after defeating the Minnesota Lynx in Game 5 of the WNBA basketball final series to win the WNBA championship, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)

Nashville Predators left wing Cole Smith (36) shoots the puck past Edmonton Oilers defenseman Darnell Nurse (25) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Oct. 17, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)

In this image taken with a slow shutter speed, Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Tanner Bibee throws against the New York Yankees during the fourth inning in Game 5 of the baseball AL Championship Series Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

PSG's Bradley Barcola, center, gets in a shot during the French League One soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Strasbourg at the Parc des Princes in Paris, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Team members stand along the fence celebrating as Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, of Monaco, wins the U.S. Grand Prix auto race at Circuit of the Americas, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Blake Treinen and catcher Will Smith celebrate their win against the New York Mets in Game 6 of a baseball NL Championship Series, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

New York Yankees' Aaron Judge is hit by a pitch thrown by Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Tanner Bibee during the first inning in Game 5 of the baseball AL Championship Series Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez)

Emirates Team New Zealand, right, and Ineos Brittania race during the Louis Vuitton 37th America's Cup Day 6 race 9 in Barcelona, Spain, Saturday, Oct.19, 2024. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)

Washington Wizards guard Johnny Davis, top right, passes the ball off under the basket against New York Knicks center Jericho Sims (20) and Tyler Kolek (13) during the second half of an NBA preseason basketball game Friday, Oct. 18, 2024, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)

AC Milan's Samuel Chukwueze, left, and Udinese's Jordan Zemura challenge for the ball during the Serie A soccer match between AC Milan and Udinese at the San Siro Stadium, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

The ball hits the helmet of New Zealand's Will Young as he attempts to play a shot on a delivery by India's Ravindra Jadeja during the day five of the first cricket test match between India and New Zealand at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium, in Bengaluru, India, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Aijaz Rahi)

Ryann O'Toole of the United States hits out of a bunker on the 14th green during the final round of the LPGA Ladies Championship golf tournament at the Seowon Valley Country Club in Paju, South Korea, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

New Zealand's Suzie Bates plays a shot during the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 final match between New Zealand and South Africa at Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Liverpool's Curtis Jones, right, scores his side's second goal past Chelsea's goalkeeper Robert Sanchez during the English Premier League soccer match between Liverpool and Chelsea at Anfield Stadium, Liverpool, England, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Jon Super)

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins (5) pulls in a pass reception over Cleveland Browns cornerback Martin Emerson Jr. (23) in the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Cleveland. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

New Zealand's captain Sophie Devine, center, poses with teammates Lea Tahuhu, left, and Suzie Bates with the trophy after winning the ICC Women's T20 World Cup 2024 final match against South Africa at Dubai International Cricket Stadium, United Arab Emirates, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Los Angeles Rams running back Kyren Williams (23) runs for a touchdown as Las Vegas Raiders safety Isaiah Pola-Mao, bottom, attempts to tackle during the first half of an NFL football game against the Las Vegas Raiders, Sunday, Oct. 20, 2024, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen, of the Netherlands, tops a hill during a qualifying session for the Formula One U.S. Grand Prix auto race at Circuit of the Americas, Saturday, Oct. 19, 2024, in Austin, Texas. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

DETROIT (AP) — Had she wanted to, Michelle Chumley could have afforded a pricey new SUV loaded with options. But when it came time to replace her Chevrolet Blazer SUV, for which she'd paid about $40,000 three years ago, Chumley chose something smaller. And less costly.

With her purchase of a Chevrolet Trax compact SUV in June, Chumley joined a rising number of buyers who have made vehicles in the below-average $20,000-to-$30,000 range the fastest-growing segment of the nation's new-auto market.

“I just don't need that big vehicle and to be paying all of that gas money,” said Chumley, a 56-year-old nurse who lives outside Oxford, Ohio, near Cincinnati.

Across the industry, auto analysts say, an “affordability shift” is taking root. The trend is being led by people who feel they can no longer afford a new vehicle that would cost them roughly today’s average selling price of more than $47,000 — a jump of more than 20% from the pre-pandemic average.

To buy a new car at that price, an average buyer would have to spend $737 a month, if financed at today's average loan rate of 7.1%, for just under six years before the vehicle would be paid off, according to Edmunds.com, an auto research and pricing site. For many, that is financially out of reach.

Yet there are other buyers who, like Chumley, could manage the financial burden but have decided it just isn't worth the cost. And the trend is forcing America's automakers to reassess their sales and production strategies. With buyers confronting inflated prices and still-high loan rates, sales of new U.S. autos rose only 1% through September over the same period last year. If the trend toward lower-priced vehicles proves a lasting one, more generous discounts could lead to lower average auto prices and slowing industry profits.

“Consumers are becoming more prudent as they face economic uncertainty, still-high interest rates and vehicle prices that remain elevated,” said Kevin Roberts, director of market intelligence at CarGurus, an automotive shopping site. “This year, all of the growth is happening in what we would consider the more affordable price buckets.”

Under pressure to unload their more expensive models, automakers have been lowering the sales prices on many such vehicles, largely by offering steeper discounts. In the past year, the average incentive per auto has nearly doubled, to $1,812, according to Edmunds. General Motors has said it expects its average selling price to drop 1.5% in the second half of the year.

Through September, Roberts has calculated, new-vehicle sales to individual buyers, excluding sales to rental companies and other commercial fleets, are up 7%. Of that growth, 43% came in the $20,000-to-$30,000 price range — the largest share for that price category in at least four years. (For used vehicles, the shift is even more pronounced: 59% sales growth in the $15,000-to-$20,000 price range over that period.)

Sales of compact and subcompact cars and SUVs from mainstream auto brands are growing faster than in any year since 2018, according to data from Cox Automotive.

The sales gains for affordable vehicles is, in some ways, a return to a pattern that existed before the pandemic. As recently as 2018, compact and subcompact vehicles — typically among the most popular moderately priced vehicles — had accounted for nearly 35% of the nation's new vehicle sales.

The proportion started to fall in 2020, when the pandemic caused a global shortage of computer chips that forced automakers to slow production and allocate scarce semiconductors to more expensive trucks and large SUVs. As buyers increasingly embraced those higher-priced vehicles, the companies posted robust earnings growth.

In the meantime, they deemed profit margins for lower-prices cars too meager to justify significant production of them. By 2022, the market share of compact and subcompact vehicles had dropped below 30%.

This year, that share has rebounded to nearly 34% and rising. Sales of compact sedans were up 16.7% through September from 12 months earlier. By contrast, CarGurus said, big pickups rose just under 6%. Sales of large SUVs are barely up at all — less than 1%.

Ford's F-Series truck remains the top-selling vehicle in the United States this year, as it has been for nearly a half-century, followed by the Chevrolet Silverado. But Stellantis' Ram pickup, typically No. 3, dropped to sixth place, outpaced by several less expensive small SUVs: the Toyota RAV4, the Honda CR-V and the Tesla Model Y (with a $7,500 U.S. tax credit).

The move in buyer sentiment toward affordability came fast this year, catching many automakers off guard, with too-few vehicles available in lower price ranges. One reason for the shift, analysts say, is that many buyers who are willing to plunk down nearly $50,000 for a new vehicle had already done so in the past few years. People who are less able — or less willing — to spend that much had in many cases held on to their existing vehicles for years. The time had come for them to replace them. And most of them seem disinclined to spend more than they have to.

With loan rates still high and average auto insurance prices up a whopping 38% in the past two years, “the public just wants to be a little more frugal about it,” said Keith McCluskey, CEO of the dealership where Chumley bought her Trax.

Roberts of CarGurus noted that even many higher-income buyers are choosing smaller, lower-priced vehicles, in some cases because of uncertainties over the economy and the impending presidential election.

The shift has left some automakers overstocked with too many pricier trucks and SUVs. Some, like Stellantis, which makes Chrysler, Jeep and Ram vehicles, have warned that the shift will eat into their profitability this year.

At General Motors' Chevrolet brand, executives had foreseen the shift away from “uber expensive” vehicles and were prepared with the redesigned Trax, which came out in the spring of 2023, noted Mike MacPhee, director of Chevrolet sales operations.

Trax sales in the U.S. so far this year are up 130%, making it the nation’s top-selling subcompact SUV.

“We’re basically doubling our (Trax) sales volume from last year,” MacPhee said.

How long the preference for lower-priced vehicles may last is unclear. Charlie Chesbrough, chief economist for Cox Automotive, notes that the succession of expected interest rates cuts by the Federal Rates should eventually lead to lower auto loan rates, thereby making larger vehicles more affordable.

“The trends will probably start to change if these interest rates start coming down,” Chesbrough predicted. “We'll see consumers start moving into these larger vehicles.”

AP Economics Writer Christopher Rugaber in Washington contributed to this report.

Michelle Chumley poses with her new Chevrolet Trax compact SUV, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, in West Chester, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

Michelle Chumley sits in her new Chevrolet Trax compact SUV, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, in West Chester, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

Michelle Chumley poses for a portrait beside her new Chevrolet Trax compact SUV, Thursday, Sept. 26, 2024, in West Chester, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)