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The $25k car is going extinct?

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Re: The $25k car is going extinct?

#181

Post by zeroq »

tricolon wrote: post #130
zeroq wrote: post #124

Last year we bought a car. While not being a petrol head I was still living in a lala land where you could buy a brand new car for 10k EUR. Nothing fancy, just "a car". Obviously it turned out to be not true. After some digging it turned out that in the last 10 years the price of cars went double. Literally double. Same car, like Fiat Panda, with the same engine and configuration, that ten years was worth one potato…

I'd never seen the word "subvention" before. Today I learned it's another way to say "subsidy".

I'm really sorry, engrish is really hard

Re: The $25k car is going extinct?

#182

Post by LoganDark »

amluto wrote: post #177
nradov wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Houses are a depreciating asset. They require constant maintenance expenses just to hold their value. It's the land under the house that's the appreciating asset.

Sort of. In a lot of areas, the cost of the house has skyrocketed in the last few decades. One factor is that you can’t buy an empty lot and then build a 20 year old $250k house on it in most markets. If you want to build a house, that house will be new (obviously — relocating an old house is a real pain), and the costs of construction are silly. This effect inflates the value of old houses in a lot of markets. Of co…

> relocating an old house is a real pain

Has relocating an old house even been done? (Assuming the house wasn't built to be movable.)

Re: The $25k car is going extinct?

#183

Post by zeroq »

ml_basics wrote: post #179
tricolon wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd never seen the word "subvention" before. Today I learned it's another way to say "subsidy".

It's a europeanism. In both French and German (and probably other EU languages) the word for "subsidy" is something like "subvention" so native speakers of these language often reach for an unnatural word in English. Btw other examples include "actually" which is used to mean "currently", and "eventually" which is used to mean "maybe". Personally I'm torn whether to consider this incorrect use of the language as it i…

You are correct.

I actually double checked the word "subvention" on google to see if I'm not misspelling it and the results said I was correct. But yes, I used that word because it was direct translation from my language.

Other examples you gave are also correct.

Engrish is hard.

EDIT: as a kicker I will add that while working for BigCo I was resposible for taking care of colleages coming from abroad and the very first thing I was telling them after saying "hello" was "do not ever ask anyone how are you". ;)

Re: The $25k car is going extinct?

#184

Post by bobthepanda »

ml_basics wrote: post #179
tricolon wrote: post #130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd never seen the word "subvention" before. Today I learned it's another way to say "subsidy".

It's a europeanism. In both French and German (and probably other EU languages) the word for "subsidy" is something like "subvention" so native speakers of these language often reach for an unnatural word in English. Btw other examples include "actually" which is used to mean "currently", and "eventually" which is used to mean "maybe". Personally I'm torn whether to consider this incorrect use of the language as it i…

It's probably a new dialect if speakers of it understand each other, and also understand when usages of their dialect are wrong.

European flavored English has existed for a while though since the existence of the EU as an institution has required a lot of English learning and writing as one of its official languages.

Re: The $25k car is going extinct?

#185

Post by TulliusCicero »

snovymgodym wrote: post #7

It's pretty simple (in the US, can't speak for elsewhere). There are 2 big factors at play: 1. Margins. Manufacturers make huge margins on expensive vehicles and very slim margins on cheap vehicles. The numbers differ, but I think even in the lead up to the 2008 crisis automakers had to sell 5-10 "econobox" cars to make the profit they made on one luxury car, SUV, or truck. 2. Normalization of debt. For many American…

The solution to number one is more competition: a new company willing to take smaller margins to gain market share.

Re: The $25k car is going extinct?

#186

Post by DangitBobby »

ggm-at-algebras wrote: post #162
lastofthemojito wrote: post #153

Electric vehicles eliminated the need for manufacturers to sell (usually small and cheap) efficient ICE cars in the US. For years, CAFE regulations have meant that manufacturers must meet minimum fleet fuel economy averages or else pay fines. In order to sell more profitable but less fuel-efficient F-150s, Ford also needed to sell little Fiestas or Focuses. In order to sell Suburbans, Chevy also needed to sell Cavali…

if you don't believe in market regulations, this is confirming evidence of the distortions of trying to regulate an open market. If you believe in climate change, this is evidence of how the vested interest behind profit in cars manipulates the intent of the regulations, to continue to get what they want. It's a bit fish/bicycle, but the point is, we wanted more people to drive smaller, cheaper, less polluting cars.…

Sounds like something a functional Congress could address after the flaws in the legislation became evident. Then, they keep revising it as manufactures try to do anything but comply. If it costs the manufacturers engineering money to try to circumvent the intent of the regulation, they learn to follow the intent instead. It's not so much an argument against regulation as it is against a dysfunctional Congress. I don't think anyone was rooting for that anyway.

Re: The $25k car is going extinct?

#188

Post by DangitBobby »

TulliusCicero wrote: post #185
snovymgodym wrote: post #7

It's pretty simple (in the US, can't speak for elsewhere). There are 2 big factors at play: 1. Margins. Manufacturers make huge margins on expensive vehicles and very slim margins on cheap vehicles. The numbers differ, but I think even in the lead up to the 2008 crisis automakers had to sell 5-10 "econobox" cars to make the profit they made on one luxury car, SUV, or truck. 2. Normalization of debt. For many American…

The solution to number one is more competition: a new company willing to take smaller margins to gain market share.

Seems like all the new entrants would rather compete at the high end.

Re: The $25k car is going extinct?

#189

Post by parpfish »

nradov wrote: post #136
cosmic_cheese wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The dwindling of small hatchbacks in the US is so disappointing it’s difficult to put into words. They were the perfect little suburb grocery grabbers, and now you can’t buy them without overpaying for a used one. The next best thing is a sedan that’s longer and harder to maneuver and park despite having markedly worse cargo space and utility, and to get a hatch (not just a liftback) you’re forced into crossovers/SUV…

You can buy a Subaru Impreza hatchback.

the impreza's feels long enough that it is more of a "wagon" than a "hatchback"

Re: The $25k car is going extinct?

#190

Post by thayne »

SoftTalker wrote: post #129
aorloff wrote: post #74

Nobody else has said it so I guess I will. The reason the US car industry does not want a $25k car is that the financing opportunities are crap for a car of this low cost. In the same way that airlines exist to offer you a miles based credit card, the US car dealerships survive by offering you a loan for the car. Or perhaps, a car to go with your structured finance opportunity.

Buy the best used car you can afford for cash and forget all that dealership nonsense

Unfortunately, the decrease in supply of budget cars hurts people buying used cars as well for two reasons:

1. With less people able to afford new cars it increases demand for used cars, which pushes up the price

2. There will be less budget cars that eventually end up in the used car market, and the increased price of new cars will trickle through to used cars

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