But car buyers’ preferences have also shifted dramatically to larger trucks and SUVs in the past 10 years or so, and even more towards high-tech and comfort amenities in the form of cameras, sensors, radars and large infotainment screens," he said.

You can’t buy a smaller truck because the manufacturers lobbied that large trucks are exempt from stricter emissions and thus they don’t have to engineer a smaller, more efficient truck.

Section 179 allows you to deduct the entire purchase of a vehicle over 6000 lbs gvw if it’s used for at least 50% business use. Farmers are notorious for not paying taxes. I guarantee they use untaxed, dyed diesel in their truck that they drive on roads too.

Hopefully this will drive car makers to make simpler and more affordable cars.

That which is unsustainable will tend not to be sustained.

$80,000 pickups exist because of farmers’ welfare checks.

There is no real reason for vehicles to cost that much.

I can’t phantom spending more than $25k on a new car (for myself, I don’t need a family vehicle). I’m in the market for a used car around $15k and even that seems steep. With this article saying average prices are around $40k and 82% of Americans make under $100k, I have to assume people are seriously struggling to afford anything if much of it is going towards car expenses. And that’s just for a car, not to mention housing, food, etc.

Edit: oh…

Manufacturers cite disappointing sales results as primary reasons for discontinuing smaller, more affordable vehicles from their lineup," Yoon explained.

“But car buyers’ preferences have also shifted dramatically to larger trucks and SUVs in the past 10 years or so, and even more towards high-tech and comfort amenities in the form of cameras, sensors, radars and large infotainment screens,” he said.

Yeah, I’d be a-okay with an fm radio and roll down windows in a compact hatchback, thanks. You people with your fancy cars. It’s all going to be trash with the flick of a firmware update.

I’ll stick to walking, transit, micromobility, and motorcycling for now.

That’s not just in the US. I drive a car I can’t afford either, but it’s a company car so I don’t have to worry about it. It’s still kinda wild to me that asking for a few € raise is seen as impossible but giving me a 50K car isn’t a problem (I know, I know, tax breaks etc).

Nature is healing.

🤭 Fuck cars anyway!

This is the best summary I could come up with:

The pandemic’s disruption of manufacturing supply chains, as well as outsized consumer demand in 2021, really put a strain on vehicle inventory and drove prices up significantly, said Yoon.

“Supply chain disruptions also forced manufacturers to prioritize more profitable, higher-trim vehicles in their lineups, which meant the inventory available to purchase also carried a higher sticker price.”

“Macroeconomic factors like inflation and higher interest rates are also reducing vehicle demand, but not enough to drastically drop car prices in the foreseeable future.”

But there are other reasons besides pandemic-related disruptions that there seem to be no more affordable cars in the U.S.—including that automakers are increasingly focusing on the production of expensive SUVs and trucks while dropping smaller, cheaper vehicles that would cost $20,000 or less.

“Manufacturers cite disappointing sales results as primary reasons for discontinuing smaller, more affordable vehicles from their lineup,” Yoon explained.

“But car buyers’ preferences have also shifted dramatically to larger trucks and SUVs in the past 10 years or so, and even more towards high-tech and comfort amenities in the form of cameras, sensors, radars and large infotainment screens,” he said.

The original article contains 758 words, the summary contains 186 words. Saved 75%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

Alternative perspective:

Just 10 percent of new car listings are currently priced below $30,000, according to CoPilot

10% of new cars are still below $30k despite inflation. $30k today would be ~$18k 20 years ago.

Original MSRP on the 2004 Camry was ~$18k. The 2024 Camry is ~$25k (fair market value ~$29k), so at least the Camry has gotten cheaper or shayed the and relative to inflation. Cars have gotten much better in the meantime as well.

Since 2020, new car prices have risen by 30 percent

That’s a bit unfair though. There was a massive supply shortage in 2020 as car manufacturers reduced production fearing an economic downtown, then a difficulty increasing production due to COVID-related supply line disruption. Since then, EVs have gotten really popular, and their prices have skyrocketed.

So they have picked the most extreme possible start and failed to point out changes in purchasing preferences (i.e. more are buying from the more expensive end of the spectrum).

They do get into this later though.

In November 2019, the average transaction price for a new vehicle was $38,500. In November of 2023, that figure jumped to $47,939.

So Americans prefer to buy more expensive cars. Cheaper cars do exist as pointed out in the article, but there’s apparently not as much demand for them.

Americans needed an annual income of at least $100,000 to afford a car

I’m guessing this is based on the average selling price of a car. Let’s also assume loan rates are 5-6%, they’ll put $0 down, and yearly income is assuming 10% goes to the car payment. I’ll use this calculator for loan costs using data for my state (~9% sales tax, $2500 fees). I’ll estimate other costs below.

Let’s look at some options (only going with “fullsize” sedans and a crossover):

• Toyota Camry - fair value ~$29k - $547.27-560.65/month, income range $65k-67k
• Kia Forte - fair value ~$22.5k - $424.60-434.99/month, income range ~$52k
• Subaru Crosstrek - fair value ~$28k - not bothering to calculate, probably $60-65k

Assuming 30mpg, 14k miles per year, and $3.09/gal gas (average taken from here), we get $1440/year in gas, or $14.4k in additional income. There are cheaper cars and more efficient cars, this is just a sample of popular cars.

So to afford gas and a car payment on a new car on 10% of your income, you’d need $66.5k-80k, not $100k. After the first 5 years, that decreases quite a lot, and your cost for maintenance is probably way less than your old car payment.

I’m not factoring in insurance prices, which depend heavily on region, age, driving record, etc.

That said, I personally have never and probably will never buy new, I prefer to find a good deal on a used car and keep it to 200k+ miles. I think many people at the lower end of the income spectrum do the same, so basing a budget around a car payment is really silly. So the actual minimum is probably more like $40-50k, if you buy a high quality used car, get liability insurance, and do the easier repairs yourself.

including that automakers are increasingly focusing on the production of expensive SUVs and trucks while dropping smaller, cheaper vehicles that would cost $20,000 or less.

This is due to customer demand, as well as stupid regulations that make SUVs and trucks cheaper for auto makers to make. If we fix the laws to not treat consumer trucks and SUVs differently, we’ll see prices for those cars increase and demand for smaller cars increase as well.

This all started with light trucks getting lower efficiency standards than cars, and SUVs being classified as light trucks, which means SUVs have lower R&D costs vs sedans due to not needing to worry about efficiency as much. So SUVs can be cheaper than they would be if they were regulated as cars.

Regardless, this article is quite poor imo.

So the average transaction price for a new vehicle is just shy of $48000. It blows my mind that people are buying such expensive vehicles and then complaining they can’t afford them. We bought a new vehicle 3 months ago and its price is only half that amount. Yet it comfortably seats two adults and two kids.

There are plenty of vehicles for sale under $30k. But the people are choosing not to buy them. 🤷‍♂️

Stop paying for subscription cars

But an electric bike

Good