Are these really the problem? I feel like new cars are obscenely expensive right now. Even a basic car can easily run you 30-40k, the same thing a few years used will be The difference between a brand new car and a 10 year old car is almost nil in terms of featureset nowadays (if anything, you get more because you can buy a higher end older model for less), every car has all the basics. Cars just got so good over the…
Why there are no $3k-$4k cars? I am sure most people need cheaper cars, not electric cars, or AI cars, or cars with mobile app and telemetry. Those are toys for the rich.
"A Car" needs to be able to operate safely on highways at 60+ MPH. That means: horsepower, braking, crumple zones, airbags, crash testing, etc. By the time you add those up you've already exceeded that budget, and you only have a glorified rickshaw. People want doors, roll-down windows, etc, which all add cost... they're going to be better served with a used car in that price range.
The closest things that exist are Neighborhood Electric Vehicles. They're basically golf carts with seatbelts, allowed to operate on city streets up to 25 MPH.
It would be great if the US had something like Japan's Kei Cars. Those are $10k and up, fast and safe enough for local highway use (say 50MPH)... It works in Japan because urban traffic tends to be low speed. They are less practical in the US where freeways run through every city, but they'd still work for many people. They would require significant regulation changes.