New cars are just for rich people now • Hacker News Board

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#21

Post by [deleted] » Fri, May 12, 2023, 5:45 PM UTC

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.

[deleted]

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#22

Post by helen___keller » Fri, May 12, 2023, 5:45 PM UTC

> Back in 2017, if you wanted a car that cost less than $20,000, you had 11 options. Fast forward to March of 2023, and that list had been narrowed to only two.

The story here is just “inflation happened”

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#23

Post by dgoodell » Fri, May 12, 2023, 5:46 PM UTC

They say there are fewer new cars available at $21k today than in 2017. Did they take into account inflation?

$21k in Jan 2017 is nearly $26k Jan 2023. There seems to be plenty of new cars that cost that amount.

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#24

Post by Spivak » Fri, May 12, 2023, 5:47 PM UTC

This article is kinda missing it. New vehicles are have always been a luxury for people with money to waste. Unless you get some crazy deal and financing they're never a good financial decision.

Well that used to be true, the actual painful thing going on with the car market right now is that in some ridiculous twist of events is that used costs more than new for a lot of vehicles. So yes new cars are more expensive, but used cars are a lot more expensive which hollows out the market that serves the average car buyer.

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#25

Post by BHSPitMonkey » Fri, May 12, 2023, 5:47 PM UTC

bryanlarsen wrote: post #19

Meanwhile the average price of an EV has dropped $10,000 over the last 12 months. https://insideevs.com/news/666533/average-ev-transaction-pri... The average EV price is not yet less than the average internal combustion vehicle price, but it's getting close. TCO for the average EV is almost certainly less than TCO for the average ICE vehicle.

A correction from an inflated peak all across 2022 when chip shortages starved supply and gas prices surged EV demand. Production for many of the highly sought-after models is only now starting to catch up.

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#26

Post by acdha » Fri, May 12, 2023, 5:49 PM UTC

dgoodell wrote: post #23

They say there are fewer new cars available at $21k today than in 2017. Did they take into account inflation? $21k in Jan 2017 is nearly $26k Jan 2023. There seems to be plenty of new cars that cost that amount.

Inflation has gone up in no small part due to cars. They’re one of the biggest factors and people who aren’t buying them or driving heavily have seen far lower rates of inflation.

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#27

Post by tehjoker » Fri, May 12, 2023, 5:49 PM UTC

PaulHoule wrote: post #4

ftxbro wrote: post #3

> "When you do the math on what that means to a median household, it is basically pricing the median completely out of the new vehicle market" Some years ago, 'above median' didn't count as 'rich'. There were 'the masses' maybe like 90% then a bourgeoisie maybe the next ones above that, then less than 1% aristocracy and nobles. Also social class wasn't determined solely by net worth or income. Maybe we will go back t…

I dunno. Ford saw the automobile as being revolutionary only if the person who makes the automobile is able to afford the automobile. (Funny, nobody applies this one to child care.)

That doesn't make any sense. This sounds like a play for a more loyal labor force, a larger labor force, or to head off unionization. Ford was an incredible asshole that supported Nazi beliefs. He's wasn't going to just give people money.

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#28

Post by TechBro8615 » Fri, May 12, 2023, 5:51 PM UTC

skybrian wrote: post #11

US vehicle sales were up in April [1], [2], so someone is buying them. [1] https://economics.td.com/us-vehicle-sales [2] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/ALTSALES

Perhaps it's Uber drivers buying them with financing after being forced to drive a sufficiently recent model of vehicle.

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#29

Post by prng2021 » Fri, May 12, 2023, 5:51 PM UTC

helen___keller wrote: post #22

> Back in 2017, if you wanted a car that cost less than $20,000, you had 11 options. Fast forward to March of 2023, and that list had been narrowed to only two. The story here is just “inflation happened”

That’s definitely a big part, but the other major reasons are: 1. Companies are focusing on selling higher profit margin vehicles (more expensive models vs high volume budget models) 2. Companies are focusing on SUVs and trucks since bigger cars are in demand. 3. To a small extent, the focus on inherently more expensive EV models

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#30

Post by shmatt » Fri, May 12, 2023, 5:54 PM UTC

EVs are the way to go right now. Between the "fleet" loophole for federal credits, state credits, free charging for 2-3 years in some cases, discounted charging at night, manufacturers trying to get rid of the EVs that didn't succeed, no sales tax in some states. It's probably 50% cheaper than an ICE car