4 ms·

New cars prices doubled in the last 20 years. If anything, I would expect them to make record profits actually.

lynx97 1y ago
That is called inflation. Almost everything doubled its price in the last 20 years. My rent, for instance...
thrwaway55 1y ago
This is honestly tighter then you might think accounting for inflation. A 2000 1$ is 1.87$ today. 2005 seems like they should be doing a lot better since it's 1.65$ but it's not nearly as gangbusters as this comes across.
epolanski 1y ago
That doesn't cope with less vehicles being sold overall and inflation, even if margins on a single car have never been higher I think (at least in US).
metaphor 1y ago
> New cars prices doubled in the last 20 years. In the US, authoritative data sources[1] suggest otherwise. [1] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1KzJF https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1KzJF
- Mindless2112 1y ago
  The CPI's hedonic quality adjustment means that this graph doesn't mean what you think it means.
  - UltraSane 1y ago
    Cars HAVE gotten a LOT better over time.
    - slaw 1y ago
      Cars today are better than 50 years ago, but not much better than 15 years ago.
      - reaperducer 1y ago
        Cars today are better than 50 years ago, but not much better than 15 years ago. You must be young. Cars used to last five years before falling apart. It helped drive the whole auto leasing industry, because nobody wanted something that turned into an old rust bucket in half a decade. The reliable Japanese cars came in, and every marker suddenly started offering five, eight, and even ten year partial warranties. Today, a ten-year-old car is very common. I kept mine until it was 12-years-old, and in that time it never had a breakdown. Just tires, oil changes, and many lightbulbs. My previous cars (Volkswagen, Isuzu, Ford, Ford, Mercury) had long been scrapped by then.
        msgodel 1y ago
        I don't know if you're aware but y2k was almost 30 years ago. My 2006 Corolla was going pretty strong up until a few years ago.
      - UltraSane 1y ago
        I own a 2002 Saturn and cars made in the last 5 years feel like space shuttles by comparison.
- readthenotes1 1y ago
  Also, that's not adjusted for inflation (tho obviously that may be difficult given how much this contributes to CPI)
adrianN 1y ago
So prices have roughly kept up with inflation?
- metaphor 1y ago
  No[1], far from it in the US...thank goodness. [1] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1KzKj https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1KzKj
  - anon191928 1y ago
    that number is lie, good luck believing tho. printer will not share truth, it's always higher
mrighele 1y ago
At least in Europe, car are more expensive to make than 20 years ago, even inflation adjusted, as the EU keeps adding new and stricter regulations. * Lower emissions, requiring more expensive engines. * Making cars easier to recycle (but more expensive to build) * Adding mandatory accessories for safety reasons. Here you can find an example of what that has been recently added. [1]. Nice stuff, but it doesn't come for free. [1] https://autovista24.autovistagroup.com/news/what-is-the-general-safety-regulation/ https://autovista24.autovistagroup.com/news/what-is-the-gene...
- morsch 1y ago
  Cars have also gotten much bigger, heavier and more powerful.
  - eptcyka 1y ago
    Difficult to make a small car that has all the safety and matches the price. It is easier to justify the bigger car at its price than the smaller car, since 2x bigger car will not be 2x more expensive to make.
  - zihotki 1y ago
    That's not the case in EU if we put EVs into separate category since they all have a battery weight toll.
    - morsch 1y ago
      It's true even if you don't consider EVs. People buy more SUVs, for one thing, but a 2025 VW Golf is also larger and heavier than a 2005 Golf, which is larger and heavier than a 1985 Golf. Compact cars in 2025 are the size mid size cars used to be a couple of decades ago. Meanwhile, the average family size is getting smaller and smaller and the average occupancy is ever closer to 1.
- giingyui 1y ago
  [dead]
- 1y ago

That is called inflation. Almost everything doubled its price in the last 20 years. My rent, for instance...

This is honestly tighter then you might think accounting for inflation. A 2000 1$ is 1.87$ today. 2005 seems like they should be doing a lot better since it's 1.65$ but it's not nearly as gangbusters as this comes across.

epolanski 1y ago

That doesn't cope with less vehicles being sold overall and inflation, even if margins on a single car have never been higher I think (at least in US).

metaphor 1y ago

> New cars prices doubled in the last 20 years. In the US, authoritative data sources[1] suggest otherwise. [1] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1KzJF https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1KzJF

Mindless2112 1y ago
The CPI's hedonic quality adjustment means that this graph doesn't mean what you think it means.
- UltraSane 1y ago
  Cars HAVE gotten a LOT better over time.
  - slaw 1y ago
    Cars today are better than 50 years ago, but not much better than 15 years ago.
    - reaperducer 1y ago
      Cars today are better than 50 years ago, but not much better than 15 years ago. You must be young. Cars used to last five years before falling apart. It helped drive the whole auto leasing industry, because nobody wanted something that turned into an old rust bucket in half a decade. The reliable Japanese cars came in, and every marker suddenly started offering five, eight, and even ten year partial warranties. Today, a ten-year-old car is very common. I kept mine until it was 12-years-old, and in that time it never had a breakdown. Just tires, oil changes, and many lightbulbs. My previous cars (Volkswagen, Isuzu, Ford, Ford, Mercury) had long been scrapped by then.
      - msgodel 1y ago
        I don't know if you're aware but y2k was almost 30 years ago. My 2006 Corolla was going pretty strong up until a few years ago.
    - UltraSane 1y ago
      I own a 2002 Saturn and cars made in the last 5 years feel like space shuttles by comparison.
readthenotes1 1y ago
Also, that's not adjusted for inflation (tho obviously that may be difficult given how much this contributes to CPI)

adrianN 1y ago

So prices have roughly kept up with inflation?

metaphor 1y ago
No[1], far from it in the US...thank goodness. [1] https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1KzKj https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=1KzKj
- anon191928 1y ago
  that number is lie, good luck believing tho. printer will not share truth, it's always higher

mrighele 1y ago

At least in Europe, car are more expensive to make than 20 years ago, even inflation adjusted, as the EU keeps adding new and stricter regulations. * Lower emissions, requiring more expensive engines. * Making cars easier to recycle (but more expensive to build) * Adding mandatory accessories for safety reasons. Here you can find an example of what that has been recently added. [1]. Nice stuff, but it doesn't come for free. [1] https://autovista24.autovistagroup.com/news/what-is-the-general-safety-regulation/ https://autovista24.autovistagroup.com/news/what-is-the-gene...

morsch 1y ago
Cars have also gotten much bigger, heavier and more powerful.
- eptcyka 1y ago
  Difficult to make a small car that has all the safety and matches the price. It is easier to justify the bigger car at its price than the smaller car, since 2x bigger car will not be 2x more expensive to make.
- zihotki 1y ago
  That's not the case in EU if we put EVs into separate category since they all have a battery weight toll.
  - morsch 1y ago
    It's true even if you don't consider EVs. People buy more SUVs, for one thing, but a 2025 VW Golf is also larger and heavier than a 2005 Golf, which is larger and heavier than a 1985 Golf. Compact cars in 2025 are the size mid size cars used to be a couple of decades ago. Meanwhile, the average family size is getting smaller and smaller and the average occupancy is ever closer to 1.
giingyui 1y ago
[dead]
1y ago