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New cars are just for rich people now

jalopnik.com

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Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#101

Post by jonathankoren »

a_subsystem wrote: post #79
jonathankoren wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The supply shocks of checks notes three years ago, were certainly unanticipated. But it's been three years now, and prices haven't come down even though supply problems are clearing up. So what's up with prices? Well, to paraphrase the old sportscaster Warner Wolf, let's just go to the quarterly reports! Around the all the industries profits are setting records while they reassure investors that supply chain price in…

When the government prints more money, all money loses value.

A trite response that doesn't comport with the available evidence of today's economy. But hey, faith-based economics drives the world.

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#102

Post by bryanlarsen »

ROTMetro wrote: post #86

Has anyone looked into knock on effects from the Obama era cash for clunkers that reduced the used car supply by 677,081 cars? I always thought that was going to impact affordability. It removed lower cost vehicles AND their future cannibalization for parts to keep other low cost vehicles on the road. The other change I wonder is just the longevity of cars (which could counteract impact from cash for clunkers). My fa…

I don't think the people & shoes trope necessarily applies. You can buy something like a Kia Forte for under $20K and I bet it's more reliable than a $50K BMW.

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#103

Post by xigency »

Spark_Ed wrote: post #18
tdba wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interestingly, Ford put his money where his mouth was and dropped the price of the Model T by 5x over the production period. Very hard to imagine today. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Model_T#Price_and_product... > I will build a motor car for the great multitude. It will be large enough for the family, but small enough for the individual to run and care for. It will be constructed of the best materials, by the b…

Thanks to Ford being sued by Dodge and setting the precedent that you must operate in the interests of the shareholders and not the customer or your employees.

So if a company wants to cater to customers and employees first it needs to be organized as a co-op?

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#104

Post by trilbyglens »

sandworm101 wrote: post #80
glitchc wrote: post #35

Safety is a big factor here. The basic trim for all entry level models includes driving aids such as proximity sensors, blind spot warning, backup camera, pre-collision warning. The changes required to integrate those features into the car are diverse and influence design. The net result is that it's not economically feasible to offer them as optional components on higher trims and the base price of all models goes u…

Safety is also the driving factor in vehicle size. We are in an arms race of constantly increasing vehicle complexity and mass. The safest vehicle to be in any two-vehicle crash is almost always the bigger one . With mass comes cost. The irony is that vehicles are now ridiculously safe in comparison to decades past. Regulators who for years improved safety by leaps and bounds (seat belts, crumple zones, anti-lock bre…

Motorcycles are absolutely not a solution as anyone who has ridden will tell you.

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#105

Post by trilbyglens »

olyjohn wrote: post #72
glitchc wrote: post #35

Safety is a big factor here. The basic trim for all entry level models includes driving aids such as proximity sensors, blind spot warning, backup camera, pre-collision warning. The changes required to integrate those features into the car are diverse and influence design. The net result is that it's not economically feasible to offer them as optional components on higher trims and the base price of all models goes u…

Meh. I feel like that's a scapegoat that they like to use. Honda packed all that into the Fit (Honda Sensing), and it wasn't a $50,000 car. It was reasonably priced, and an excellent, economical car, with a top safety rating. It's literally the exact same tech used in their top end cars. But what they did was, they killed the Fit in the US. So now the cheapest Honda car you can get is the Civic. Which isn't the small…

Europe is still full of cheap base models with manual transmissions. Americans just go for luxury and it shapes the market in that direction.

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#106

Post by sandworm101 »

trilbyglens wrote: post #104
sandworm101 wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Safety is also the driving factor in vehicle size. We are in an arms race of constantly increasing vehicle complexity and mass. The safest vehicle to be in any two-vehicle crash is almost always the bigger one . With mass comes cost. The irony is that vehicles are now ridiculously safe in comparison to decades past. Regulators who for years improved safety by leaps and bounds (seat belts, crumple zones, anti-lock bre…

Motorcycles are absolutely not a solution as anyone who has ridden will tell you.

Neither are bicycles and electric skateboards, but needs must. With cars costing tens of thousands, not to mention parking issues, I see a great many young people turning to two-wheeled vehicles in years to come. A small motorcycle, be it IC or electric, will always be the cheaper option.

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#107

Post by trilbyglens »

sandworm101 wrote: post #80
glitchc wrote: post #35

Safety is a big factor here. The basic trim for all entry level models includes driving aids such as proximity sensors, blind spot warning, backup camera, pre-collision warning. The changes required to integrate those features into the car are diverse and influence design. The net result is that it's not economically feasible to offer them as optional components on higher trims and the base price of all models goes u…

Safety is also the driving factor in vehicle size. We are in an arms race of constantly increasing vehicle complexity and mass. The safest vehicle to be in any two-vehicle crash is almost always the bigger one . With mass comes cost. The irony is that vehicles are now ridiculously safe in comparison to decades past. Regulators who for years improved safety by leaps and bounds (seat belts, crumple zones, anti-lock bre…

I _hate_ this trend of moving everything into software. Touchscreens in cars are awful. And now cameras instead of mirrors? No thanks.

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#108

Post by ftxbro »

eesmith wrote: post #98
ftxbro wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes this is an excellent example! When I said 'some years ago' I pretty much meant pre-USA. The Ford story is a great example of that American socio-economic differences from the previous 90/9/1 kind of distribution they had before that in England or other places. EDIT: Also, people today would be calling Ford as literally communist

What are you talking about? Ford was about as anticommunist as you could get. He was a strong anti-Semite, a conspiracy theorist who railed against "international Jewry", who paid to print the fabricated 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion' in the US. He was absolutely against unions. His private police force used violent opposition against unionization, like the Ford Hunger March and the Battle of the Overpass. And…

> What are you talking about? Ford was about as anticommunist as you could get. He was a strong anti-Semite, a conspiracy theorist who railed against "international Jewry", who paid to print the fabricated 'The Protocols of the Elders of Zion' in the US.

they would call him a communist, and also an anti-semite

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#110

Post by orwin »

xigency wrote: post #103
Spark_Ed wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks to Ford being sued by Dodge and setting the precedent that you must operate in the interests of the shareholders and not the customer or your employees.

So if a company wants to cater to customers and employees first it needs to be organized as a co-op?

Yes.

By the way, SWE consultancy co-op are a thing and in my experience pay 15% more than regular consultancy.

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