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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

#31

Post by naravara »

This may not be the worst thing honestly, from an environmental perspective. The cars themselves have much longer usable lives now so it's for the best that cars move down to new users instead of needing to build more and more.

The downsides, however, is that while the car part of the car is more durable and long-lasting than ever, the software/computer parts of the car are hamstrung by terrible decisions that are sure to age very poorly. This will only get worse when GM decides they want to turn the infotainment screen into a data-harvesting cash cow.

Also, this will slow down the transition to EVs. And it ends up saturating the used car market with cars designed with the tastes of show-boating new-car buyers in mind. This screws over people who just want a humble, reliable, practical vehicle instead of an overspecced, oversized, brodozer.

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#33

Post by bryanlarsen »

BHSPitMonkey wrote: post #25
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.

Average EV price in 2020 was $55,000 and average ICE price was $39,000. Average EV price today is $55,000 and average ICE price is $48,000.

Both ICE & EV went up about $10K, but the EV price has dropped back and the ICE hasn't.

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#35

Post by glitchc »

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 up as a result.

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#37

Post by falcolas »

If you're purchasing a new vehicle for over $40k, you're getting scammed IMO. There's a lot of great electric and hybrid vehicles with good reliability history.

But if you want to look like a _____ in a lifted dodge ram, well, we'll be happy to give you plenty of room on the road to roll your coal.

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#38

Post by jandrese »

jen20 wrote: post #16
cs702 wrote: post #5

...because of (a) car-price inflation kick-started by pandemic-era supply shocks, and (b) rising interest rates meant to drive down the rate of price inflation. In short, both cars themselves and car-financing are more expensive.

“Supply shocks” make it sound like something that could not be anticipated, rather than something that was caused by active incompetence from auto manufacturers at the start of the pandemic.

Even worse, when you dive into the "supply shocks" they were all in all fairly minor and tracked the decrease in demand. A lot of inflation is just companies using the excuse to raise prices and pad the bottom line.

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#39

Post by jandrese »

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

A lot of that seems to be fleet sales to rental companies that need to recover from dumping their inventory to stay afloat during the pandemic.

Re: New cars are just for rich people now

#40

Post by jonathankoren »

jen20 wrote: post #16
cs702 wrote: post #5

...because of (a) car-price inflation kick-started by pandemic-era supply shocks, and (b) rising interest rates meant to drive down the rate of price inflation. In short, both cars themselves and car-financing are more expensive.

“Supply shocks” make it sound like something that could not be anticipated, rather than something that was caused by active incompetence from auto manufacturers at the start of the pandemic.

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 increases are immaterial, and have full expectation that customers will simply accept the new prices.

https://www.kansascityfed.org/Economic%20Review/documents/93...

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