@@frogmantoad8110 The number 1 car maker is rolls royce. They only build 5000+ cars but rolls makes the most income. So every make wants to be more like rolls, sell fewer cars at premium prices. Market target is the top 10 percent of income earners in the long term. It's already almost like this in germany, car ownership is less than 50 percent, cars are kept for only 5 years (due to increase in government fines/taxes, it's cheaper to buy new). If you're not in the 10 percent then public transportation, uber, rent a car when you need it, etc.
@@frogmantoad8110 And they know consumers won't pay a 15% tax for CAFE compliance, so they stopped selling subcompacts and compact trucks. Cheap competitors couldn't make a 50 mpg Honda Fit in 2022 any better than Honda could. Nobody could make a 35 MPG Ford Ranger in 2015 either, so the cartel is enforced.
I suspect it's more to do with them being forced to go all EV. EVs are expensive to manufacture and they are probably reasoning that people won't buy a $50,000 Yaris, when they could get $60,000 mid-level toyota. They just can't get EVs down to a economic range.
We shopped for a Maverick this fall. Low stock, usually one unit or two per dealership. The sales staff immediately tried putting us in full size and there was a minimum of a $3000 "market adjustment". We bought a used Honda Ridgeline instead and love it. I think its worth mentioning how absolutely awful the "dealer experience" has become.
Just bought myself and my wife audi suvs and I have to say buying process with dealers were easy and fine? They did try to add on the bs crap when I sat with finance guy but said no and we moved on. Secret is treat like business deal leave ALL emotion out of it, know your numbers go on and say these are them never waiver, if no deal be ready to walk away…they’ll see this and change tone.
@@msk3905 Fewer potential buyers than cars in inventory? Dealers will be open to negotiation. More prospective buyers than inventory? The only negotiation will be, 'How much are you willing to pay OVER sticker?'
Oldest car I've owned was 9 years old. At that point, the repairs tend to become too high and commonplace for me to bother with. However, with the selection on offer now and how the car I have is bizarrely the best car I've ever owned in regards to reliability and comfort, I have zero plans to change it except in the case of it becoming a write off.
@@mrtalos9 years is nowhere close to the point when repairs become expensive to keep up with. That usually happens after about 15 years. My car is 16 years old and only needed about $300-400 of extra maintenance every year for the last 4.
@@swingset1969 If you think U.S. regulations are that bad you should go to China, no OSHA, no EPA, no unions. You can live in a nice dormitory, eat fish heads and rice in the company canteen and look up at the surveillance cameras everywhere.
No , it’s profit . There’s not nearly as much profit in those simple vehicles . The regulations are pushed by them to force us to buy things we don’t really want
I live in the rust belt and my last ranger finally had nothing left to attach new parts to. Went shopping, spent a day having numerous salesmen try to sell me something I had no intrest in for an ungodly sum of money. I am a do it to yourselfer so I haul dirt, gravel, yard waste etc and have no need or desire for a huge fully loaded truck. I ended up with a used, rustfree14 year old ranger from arizona. I got what I wanted, fleet white xlt with no frills and saved 25K. At my age this is probably my last truck, I was willing to buy new but what I wanted no longer exists.
Do you mind, how much did you pay? My Mom rolled her 2000 Ford Ranger 10 years ago, we rebuilt it, it was our fencing/spare truck, but just lost our 2002 Ranger to black ice Feb 12...I didn't like the 2002, I live the 2000 way better even though it looks like it should be in a junk yard.
I feel you on the no longer exists. Different type of vehicle, BUT I sold my 240SX years ago thinking 10 years later I would have some options for a fun and affordable RWD Manual sports car. They don’t exist either.
95-01 Explorer are pretty much a Ranger with a topper. Everything from the seats forward is pretty much the same, until the last ranger. If you can find one with a V8, it could pass down to grandchildren. I used to be on a Forum, it was extremely rare to unheard of for that engine or trans to fail. They would never sell anything that reliable anymore.
What car buyers really want is back to the days when you could get a Haynes manual and do basic repairs yourself. It's not simply the purchase of new cars, it's the inflated costs to keep them on the road.
The frills do need to get down to the fact that many are now disposable vehicles, built in obsolesce has hit the car market hard. CVT trans goes bad, replace the entire thing, never rebuild, and with the electric ones....
@@MrKongatthegates Young folks with no garage would like the choice as well as competitive independent garages reducing costs instead of a company monopoly.
It’s GREED pure and simple! People please stop buying expensive new cars. I used to love having a pick up truck but I will NEVER pay the prices they want for these bloated oversized, overpriced monstrosities. I’d rather drive a Corolla now!
Unfortunately Toyota Is showing it's greed with Corollas by purposely producing less so they can keep prices high. That's why most new Corollas in the USA are marked up and sold above MSRP
@@johnkonde1975it's nothing to do with greed. Regulation first and foremost. China has cheap 10k cars they want to import, and the west added 100%+ tariffs. We have serious safety ratings but that requires you to destroy lots of cars. That costs money. You think manufacturers discontinued the Camaro and other expensive things 2 door sports cars because of corporate greed? Doesn't even make sense. People don't buy the cars. Manufacturers make what people buy. Car enthusiasts thought people wanted sports cars. They got rid of most 2 door cars too. Those were expensive cars. People want suvs, and suvs cost most. Also regulation. Regulation meant that if I want to make a "sedan" it's actually easier to make it a truck, from a regulation standpoint. If companies could sell cheaper sedans, they would. Customers don't buy them. Cheap trucks might make a comeback, but customers prove they want large trucks. Hell, I'm buying a ram 1500 truck. Why? Because I can. It amuses me. I could buy a small, normal car. Corporations don't force you to buy things. They rush to make what you want before someone else does.
@@johnkonde1975you can't produce something in low quantities and keep prices artificially high. You would need everyone in the industry to be friends. We aren't friends. In banking, we literally risk destroying the financial system, just to kill our opponents, because f it. 2008 could have been completely avoided for example. That was a personal attack. Similar to gamestop, where reddit caught hedge funds "offsides", traders found certain companies to be offside, and that caused the collapse. They could have just fold the company "hey, you have an issue". Instead, they exploited it. But we say publicly, banks failed. Lol. It's because we hate each other, that customers get the best price. Example, mortgage rates. You can always refinance. So you'll always have as low of a rate as the market can handle, because, if your rate is 0.05% higher than it should be? Well hello, would you like to refinance with me? Why? I'm breaking even actually, but I would love to see my competitor who your mortgage is currently with suffer. It's almost impossible pull off the idiotic corporate greed scenarios you guys propose. Regularly, my job has been to figure out how much money we could stomach losing lol....
I have. I saw one at an auto dealer campus. There lots are some full they parking them in fields behind their store. Looks like they have one thousand brand new f150s and Dodge Rams lineup up everywhere.
I have trouble explaining to truck buyers and dealers that I want a cheap truck not because I'm poor but because I need a 2nd car for chores. I have a Mercedes E Class and can't put mulch in it, or bring home chairs. I just want something simple and easy that isn't a $50k monster truck. Give me a small $20k truck or even something like the Subaru Baja and I'll buy tomorrow. I don't care about towing capacity or huge loads. I just want to be able to run to home depot and bring home some plants or buy a TV without having to pay extra to have it delivered.
yes same. But most F150 buyers use it as their daily passenger car too so they want it full of luxuries. I bought a E550 new, and kept my absolute base manual windows Tundra for occasional hauling duty only - still have the truck, sold the Merc. I;'d have preferred a smaller truck but weirdly the new Tundra was cheaper than any new Taco on the lot at the time (14 years ago)
I want the same thing so I just bought a used 2000 first gen Tacoma for 10k. I'm good with fixing cars but the truck is only 142k miles and need to work at all.
Using our old car as a trade in, we just got a new base model Corolla for under 20k and it's an awesome car, smooth, quiet and comfortable, positive steering and precise brakes and it's all paid for. Don't buy expensive vehicles if you can help it.
@@user-tb7rn1il3q Americans and their "Small car not safe" thing and then talking about a mid-sized car like a Corolla. Like in Europe we would have thousands of deaths because people drive Aygos, Corsas, Fiestas, Fiat 500s, Polos etc. No offense. 😅
It’s probably because the cheap cars, which have low profit margins, are eating into dealership used car sales, which have a high profit margin. If dealerships don’t order new cheap cars, eventually the demand goes away. That’s my theory.
Nope, those no thrill $20k cars just don’t sell well. She is completely wrong in everything she says. And she is using the Maverick as an example to claim that people are preferring cheaper less thrills trucks, based on the comparison of the sales of the Ranger. What a joke! Compare it to the sales of the F150 instead and see what the real consumer wants. If sub $20k cars/trucks made up 20% of all car sales, that isn’t that many sales for each individual manufacturer. That means most are lucky to sell 75k a year, which is nothing. And it isn’t enough to put R&D into new models. Car manufacturers are businesses and businesses are in it to make money. I know, it is shocking to some. People go online and make comments saying that all they want is a simple vehicle that is dependable and costs less. But in reality, what they mean is that they simply want to pay less for that nicer equipped vehicle. Those sub $20k vehicles are mostly sold to rental companies and used as fleet vehicles for deliveries or things like visiting nurses and other mobile medical jobs. Take away those sales, which make even less of a profit than those being sold off of the lot, and the percentage is most likely less than 10%.
Learn about the CAFE footprint rule. Its basically a tax on cheap cars. The reason the Versa and Mirage are going away is because the penalty they would pay per vehicle sold in 2026 is about $4000.
@@TheCrazyMoparDude68Simp harder will you. Go out and touch some grass, then tell me you wouldn't also have liked to get more value for your money when you buy your next car. For reference, I bought a Kia Picanto a few years back, brand new. I chose it because it fit my needs and while they certainly had more expensive cars at the dealership, they all came with unnecessary frills I didn't want or need. I did however want some frills, so I chose my own. I got a better media system, a snappier engine and a nicer interior. This was money i didn't mind spending extra because it got me shit I WANTED. Now I guess I'm going to have to keep that car for a while because I do not want to buy anything much larger than that. The pickup trucks on sale now doesn't even fit in my garage xD I'm definitely not paying for that.
Everything I have is 10-75 years old; they all run well, and I can daily any of them. I just drove my '58 F-100 six cylinder down to visit family and got over 20 mpg! Well tuned, not driven like a psychopath, and it was going to scrap and I bought for $200! And had her running in a week. Unfortunately, government and carmakers championed cash for clunkers, so a lot of good used cars that young guns could learn on or new families could afford were slammed in the baler; really good Civics, Corollas, square body Chevs, F-150s, Nissans, etc. all got the slam. It was a crying shame. I saw a Buick Park avenue with 25k miles go as well, hell, those get 30 mpg and are reliable as heck.
Great video Aubrey and thank you for making a video on this topic! You're spot on that the reason why carmakers cancelled small new cheap cars is because they were thinking about profitability, not because people didn't want them!
@@anonymous..- How do you stay in business when you can't sell anything? Somebody is going to come along and satisfy this market that CAN make money on high volumes and low margins and then F and GM will have to beg Uncle Sam for another bailout. I will be voting NO on that bit of corporate welfare.
@@anonymous..-A smart businessesman would strive to find a balance between what's profitable and what people want.....instead of giving buyers the finger and chasing profit.
@@roijoi6963It's what Chinese products have been doing for years. "Thankfully" they have been of such low quality that people still pay the price for overpriced quality. But with the quality of quality brands also plummeting, we'll see.
The auto industry knows exactly what they are doing. Getting rid of cheap cars makes consumers buy expensive cars. It is all about profit, it is also a form of price fixing and an antitrust violation….but nobody ever goes to jail for antitrust violations.
U.S. auto industry only sells about 13million a year compaired to the bicycle industry sells like a 130 million a year and e bikes and e scooters are selling at 250%and growing each year
@@williammorris3815 car prices of getting ready to come down because dealerships are stuck with this inventory that they can't sell especially electric cars unless we have another government bailout to bail out the car industry which could happen
"The auto industry knows exactly what they are doing." Yup, they have a monopoly. Plus, they know it's not easy to design/build your own car & have it certified, etc. So the major car makers control the market.
"GM is in the business of making money, not cars". Maximizing shareholder return is the mantra of Wall Street investors. Cars, widgets, even vaporware like NFTs, it's about money and not the product. Some of us remember when a company that made something that consistently sold, the company would make more of that. Cars or light trucks? Nope, we'll just keep the same basic unit cost but eliminate the bottom tier to force buyers to move up. Remove the cosmetics and it's the same bottom tier unibody, basic suspension, and steering.
At one time - about 50 + years ago - most manufacturing companies were run by engineers. They were replaced by bean counters who spend their time trying to maximize profits rather than improve the product. As an example of this trend, I give you David Calhoun, the CEO of Boeing. When Boeing was run by engineers, quality control was a key component in building a good aircraft. Cost has now become the priority..
@@pcs5852 The "merger" with McDonnell Douglas was the downfall of Boeing. MD always had their version of the Skunk Works and other defense projects to make up the costs of its commercial division and the liability the shoddy design/construction took. The only surprise to me is how long it took for Boeing to sink this low... I was predicting the downfall of Boeing's business model before 2020.
That concept really is stupid on their part. Sure there are some buyers that can afford more, but decide to be frugal. The majority however, are buying cheap because it's all they can afford. I've only bought two new cars in my life and they were both well under the $20k mark. A 2003 Kia Rio and a 2009 Ford Ranger, and I could barely afford either of them but needed a good reliable vehicle (which they both were btw, especially the Ranger).
There's a word for this out of the software media and social media world . . . enshittification. The corporations have no interest in serving customers. They just want to maximize profits. And no, that isn't just 'the way it is'. In some parts of the world, part of the corporate responsibility includes social responsibility, and responsibility to all of their stakeholders, not just their shareholders. That means their customers, their suppliers, their employees, and even the society in which they are allowed to operate. Unless we force the issue, they're just going to keep getting worse.
If a politician in the US ever suggested something like that the right wingers would start shouting "communism" so loud and so often that nobody on the planet would ever hear anything else again. It is, however, pretty close to what happens in some European countries. Germany comes to mind.
You are exactly right. Today corporations are only interested in the next quarter and shareholders monetary gain. When you can’t buy a small compact car like the Corolla without being infused with unnecessary expensive gadgets for $20,000 dollars there’s something wrong.
@@jjhpor Yawn, I'm as right as they come but modern American corporations make me vomit. This is not political issue but if it were, I'll point out that Walstreet is run by leftists losers. These corporations are picking from the same pool of business school ring knockers and their are too many bean counters running companies. They have one goal, boosting stock price.
Everything will still be enshittified and especially over-priced on the day the earth terminates humanity. Yes, I should only speak for the US “free market”.
The Tacoma isn't Toyota's entry level truck. It's just their entry level in the U.S. because we refuse to import their good stuff.
28 дней назад
The US has a 25% tariff on light trucks (pickup trucks and vans), making it unappealing for companies to bring them in. But Toyota could have built a US factory to build the HiLux, just as they did to build their larger pickup trucks; they chose not to.
I can afford a new car. I’m just not going to spend that amount of money on a car. It’s cheaper to keep my junky car. The reason most people got new cars was due to it being cheaper to have a new one, than to fix an old one. Now it’s cheaper to keep the old one.
I bought a Chevy Spark in April 2021. I bought it literally because it was the cheapest brand new car in the USA. I tested eight different cars from four different manufacturers and decided the price differentials between them were not justified by the physical differentials. So far I have 27K miles on it and it's been not just excellent as a daily commuter but I actually rather like it. It's surprisingly comfortable, has decent economy and can cruise at 100MPH without fuss on the highway - not that I recommend that. Also it has a great air conditioner and being as I'm in Phoenix that matters, a lot. I put nothing down and financed the entire price and am paying 260 a month. I can live with that, easily. My attitude towards vehicles has changed completely as I get older. It's a device to transport me between different locations. I need it to do that as cheaply and efficiently as possible with as much comfort as budget allows. That means I need AC and a good audio. That's it. I don't give a damn about wether it can steer itself, think for itself, open and close its door by itself, whatever. I have a brain and I can do all that for MYself thanks. During the course of the week it took me to start looking at vehicles to when I drove off the lot with my car I visited the dealer several times and noticed that their supply of Sparks was dwindling rapidly. People certainly did want them. Of course they stopped making them that same year. One reason only. Not enough profits. Pure greed. Nothing else.
I had a 2018 Chevrolet spark before it was totaled by a careless driver. One of the best cars I've ever owned. I had 130,000 miles on it with no issues.
Unwise people vastly outnumber wise people by an astonishing ratio. Wise people tend to prefer economical, practical vehicles whereas their counterparts prefer expensive vehicles that convey some sort of statement. This may help to explain the direction auto manufacturers are taking.
It is called making what the customer actually buys. And the vast majority of car buyers don’t want a stripped cheap sub $20k vehicle. They want a lower price, who doesn’t, but they don’t want what sub $20k actually buys you.
@@TheCrazyMoparDude68 "And the vast majority of car buyers don’t want a stripped cheap sub $20k vehicle. They want a lower price, who doesn’t, but they don’t want what sub $20k actually buys you" and this is when an unwise person goes to the dealership and finances a new overpriced, cheaply made 20k+ plastic ipad on wheels and a wise person does their homework and buys a used car with proven reliability (that used to be a 30k+ car a few years ago) for 5k.
You forgot a major issue with modern cars: electronics. The new cars are stuffed with computer controlled this and touchscreen that. It’s a recipe for planned obsolescence, just like cell phones or computers. We recently purchased a Hyundai Santa Fe, right off the lot it started randomly having electrical issues. Taken it back 3x and finally the “errors” showed up in a scan. It appears to be a brake caliper sensor, yeah even the brake calipers have sensors now I guess. Anyway, been waiting on parts now for 2 weeks…. The most reliable car I have is a 2013 Ford Mustang V6 convertible with 88,000 miles on it. No frills, no touchscreens, I open the hood and see familiarity, these new engines are electronic nightmares…
Sorry to break it to you, but your Mustang also has brake sensors. Brake/wheel sensors have been around for several decades on vehicles. They are part of the antilock brake system. It also has a completely computer controlled engine and transmission. Engines stared to be computer controlled starting in the 80s. And what you have on your Mustang isn’t that much different than what you would find on a 2024 Mustang. Yes, touchscreens are new and so are the many apps and accessories, but things like wheel sensors and computer controlled engines are not.
@@unkn0wn_ussrit is not what younger buyers want. Young people don't even have the experience to know what they want. People want cheap cars that last and get them from a to b. Very few options this day and age.
If a family has 3 teenagers, there are NO CARS at all to buy. Not a sedan to be had. Overpriced and marginal quality SUV's, and huge $100K crew cab pickups that will not fit in the garage. Looks like even the mini vans are gone. The Impala is not as roomy as a "72 Nova 4 door. Three high school boys cannot ride in the back seat for any length of time, and only two can sit in the front. It should not take two cars to transport a family of five to grannies for thanksgiving. I never thought an American with plenty of money in the bank would have problems getting a new car.
So would a $10 car and a 10c doughnut. However if nobody can or desires to make them...they don't exist. However you could buy a $5000 used car/truck and spend $5000 in renovation and have a 10k NEW car.
4 wheel vehicles with enclosed cabins that pass minimal safety testing cost at least 8500 to build for western consumption. Add to that transport, tarriff, floor plan...that might leave $500 for profit to be split with a salesman, the dealership and the government. May as well sell Yeti Coolers or Big Green Eggs that cost
@@STho205chinese evs are going to get a 100 percent tariff because they are $10,000 and would destroy the us auto industry. before you go 'lol china,' the byd car company has other cars sold in australia and europe with 5 star safety ratings and tesla and kia buy their car batteries from byd. i love my 2016 mazda 3 but if i get another car and the byd ev safety record is good and the tariff only at 27 percent, 10,000x1.27 is way less than 20,000. you can also say there were cheap evs sold before that failed, but the byd ev has a 200 mile range, the cheap evs before had 80 or so. and my major trips are 120 miles then and now.
@@skellener. Touch screens are not inexpensive, have one replaced. Indeed they are inexpensive to make, they are also made to fail, and the cost to repair obsoletes the vehicle when a switch could keep that vehicle running for the working poor.
Just look at the fact that the Maverick hybrid was the cheapest one you could buy. Then when demand shot through the roof they made it more than the gas model. When you go look at vehicles you can only find the high end models because they don't order any base models and then say they never sold a single base model. Hard to sell something you don't have.
Exactly, you don't see base models on the lot. Dealers buy the higher trims and put a bunch of add-ons to maximize profitability. If you want a base model and/or don't want add-ons you are typically stuck ordering and waiting weeks/months. They know the average consumer does not or can not wait that long to get a new vehicle. Hence the data will show no one wants a base model but a huge part of reason is availability.
Don't forget, the next move is to prevent small shops from repairing cars by the software they have. Dealers will be getting that business too! My next car is a restored pickup truck with as little "software" as possible!
What i really want is one of those small, jump seat small pickups with a full length bed that nissan or Toyota put out in the 80s. Little four banger and a stick with roll down windows all for cheap.
Was able to get just that in 2018 from Nissan . 4cyl standard trans. Extended can . 2WD . But it is only a 6’ bed . But it was only 20,000 . They ordered it for me . The sales person laughed when I picked it up because it had keys and roll up windows . But I was lucky I got it when I did because they stopped making them shortly after .
Price is very important, but for me, I also want a basic truck. I do not want an LCD display, and do not want to be forced to touch it for any function. I want knobs. I don't want automatic anything. Really hate AC fans that stay running for 3 to 4 more seconds when I turn them off. I don't want doors locking on me everything, and I don't want to be forced to use a remote to open the passenger side door (because they removed the key hole, trying to force me to use the FOB). I want a manual truck, without all the electronics.
@@warbuzzard7167 Explain. Why would anyone want to take their eyes off the road to look at a touch screen, when they could more easily find the correct knob to turn by the way the knob feels and its location? If a person cares about safety, that makes them a boomer? You sound immature.
@@Fireballof3 Yep, I bought a 2000 S-10. I love it. Already added 35k miles to it. Minimal maintenance. The things I have needed to be done were amazingly cheap such as tires, battery, and raditator. I did need an AC evaporator for $900, but that is so cheap compared to a new truck. Also, my 2010 1500 had manual everything. I traded it in in 2018 because I thought it "was time". Sadly, my new truck is total junk.
It's simple, it car makers didn't think there was a market for cheaper cars, they wouldn't be encouraging the government to increase the import tax on Chinese cars. If it was a level playing field, cheap Chinese cars would flood the market.
You forgot to include that none of the big manufacturers can sell their EVs at anything but a loss. To make up for that they have to make more $ per unit sold.
Tesla is profitable. About 1/3 of the time the other US vehicle companies can't even make a profit on gasoline powered vehicles. GM and Ford have been hit and miss for over 100 years so it's a little unreasonable to expect them to get good at a completely different business in a decade.
@@jjhpor Tesla has historically been profitable. However, this past year they are beginning to hurt. They've been forced to cut prices, and even with that, their sales are declining. We'll have to wait a while for the final numbers. It will be interesting.
@@ctfan1486Have you looked around recently while driving down the road... Unless you're in the middle of nowhere where everyone is in a pickup truck, EVs are all over. Where I live I even see $80,000 Rivians on a regular basis. No one is building an entry level EV yet, once those become available you will see a lot more on the road. Car salesman want to sell you the easiest thing on the lot that makes you happy, most won't take the time to point you to something that meets your needs because it is typically on some other car lot.
As said it’s all about profit. Oversized pickups and SUVs make more money than sensibly sized cars. The public have bought the lie that bigger vehicles are what they really want when they have really been forced into buying (through lack of choice) bigger, more expensive and less practical vehicles. Additional overall fuel economy has decreased because of the explosion of heavier vehicles on the road. All the gains made in average fuel economy over the previous decades is being thrown away biggest of these oversized vehicles.
Addd in the fact that if it's a pickup or "SUV" (can offroad, has a certain clearance), they can get away with worse MPG and need less safety stuff in it too.
I agree with you. Recently TFL did a survey of new base model Jeep Wranglers in their area and discovered that out of over 900 Wranglers available, only 2 base models were on dealers lots. Car makers are throttling base model production in the pursuit of greedflation.
Most people with new F-150s and Silverados don't even fully utilize the capabilities of their trucks most of the time, especially when they are in cities. It's illogical.
@@ricksays7133 I remember a Ford F-350 being trapped in Maiden Lane in lower Manhattan, NYC. Alone the idea to use a big phat truck to enter NYC is so idiotic, that New Yorkers seeing this laughed very loudly.
I get your point, but to call the Maverick a truck is a bit of a stretch. It looks more like a mini van with a bed. Trucks have a full frame under them. The other reason sub 20k sales have slumped is because buyers are tired of paying a teensy bit less money and getting WAY less product.
When the term, "cheap", is used it implies poor quality even though "cheap" was actually used in reference to the vehicle price. I would recommend substituting the terms "less expensive" or "more affordable".
What's odd is my county is choc FULL of Yaris, Sonics, Mirages, Fits, etc! They're probably 15% of the vehicles i see on the road! We're taxed so horribly in my state, the low income counties can't afford even used corollas, they beeline straight for sub-sub compacts!
Bless Subaru for still making the Impreza. Bought mine in 2019 and the sales guy said it was the first one he sold. I could’ve afforded a Crosstrek or Outback but I didn’t need such vehicles. Too many times I’ve seen people buy expensive vehicles with five year loans and large payments. Then during those five years, loose their job and be forced to sell the vehicle. Buying an affordable vehicle that meets your needs and quickly paying it off will give you peace of mind.
I make well into the six figures and I still drive a 2007 honda fit. There is not value proposition with cars over $40,000. Its just them stealing your money.
This explains a lot. It’s the same reason high performance all-electric sports coupes aren’t selling-no one is making any. Meanwhile, we have crossover SUVs that can outperform big block muscle cars. It’s why no one buys convertibles these days. There aren’t any. It’s why people aren’t buying cars with colors other than black, white, or that pasty gray going around these days-cars that don’t exist don’t sell.
Some companies used to sell cheap but well made small cars as an investment in the future. The idea being that if you sell someone their first car then they will remain loyal when they get older and have more $$$. Either they don't think people will remain loyal like that anymore or the manufacturers are now only thinking about the short term.
That's how it used to be. 22 year college grad buys a cheap civic. When civics were cheap. Now 30 years old has enough for an accord. At 40 years old moves up to an Acura. I think what manufacturers, especially American auto manufacturers, know their quality stinks and the problems owners will have with their cheap cars will turn them off to buying up in the same brand. So they are only concerned with the big score believing they will never see that customer again. The same philosophy is used at dealer service centers. The prices they quote for repairs feels like you are being mugged and the service mugger is looking for that big score expecting to never see you again.
I suspect manufacturers discovered young people today want it all, and want it all RIGHT NOW, and are willing to go up to their eyeballs in debt to get it. So there isn't the same point to an entry level vehicle as there once was. The new entry level vehicle is a used vehicle.
@@jerrylundegaard2592 Modern cars are not investments. I don't know where you ever got that idea. Cheap new cars allow people with little money to have a new relatively reliable car allowing them to commute to work farther from home which many times gives them the opportunity for increased pay. Getting rid of cheap little cars blocks lower income people from buying new vehicles keeping them from reliably commuting to work keeping them closer to home and limiting their ability to make better money keeping them lower class financially. There is a reason Henry Ford's model T opened the doors for creating the middle class in America. You do realize those in power are deconstructing the middle class?
Couldn't agree more. I am seeing Transit Van type vehicles and now, more and more Mavericks turn up as daily work trucks for construction workers. Love my Honda FIT btw, but Honda converted the Mexico assembly line to make the HRV, which is based on the same planform, gets far less gas mileage, has the same interior room, and costs ~ $8-10k more money. A terrible trade-off for the consumer to get slightly better forward visibility over taller vehicles. Oh, and it doesn't handle nearly as well as the FIT. I took a drive up to Big Bear from Victorville yesterday and with a good tailwind averaged 61.4 MPG until heading uphill after Lucerne Valley.Typical mileage on long freeway trips is ~ 42MPG with the big, ugly windshield wiper blade stowed in the back. (it only rains ~ 10 days a year here, so getting another 3-5MPG and cutting wind noise in half is a great trade-off) About 3 months ago I read that the back-order time to get a Maverick is 18-20 months. I guess they hope by forcing people to wait forever they will capitulate and buy an F-150? F investors are always complaining on Yahoo Finance that the Maverick is a terrible vehicle - because F can't make a killing on it. Nevermind that it's EXACTLY the vehicle people want. The real value of tougher CAFE standards is mfgs have to make small, cheap fuel-efficient vehicles that sell well to get their fleet averages to meet CAFE standards.
What amazes me is that manufacturers don't think long term with this. If you sell a lot more cheaper cars yes the profit per unit is smaller BUT there will be more cars of your brand around which means more cars that need new tires, a regular yearly service etc. And lets face it, a lot of people have their cars serviced at a brand specific garage. So that's profit for that specific brand, not to mention that, if people like your car, they most likely will buy the same brand for the rest of their life. It's an investment in long term brand loyalty and commitment.
I pre-ordererd a 2023 Maverick and waited almost exactly one year before it was built and delivered. While I waited, I found a great deal on a 2017 Chevy Bolt. Altogether I have 2 new(-ish) cars for the average price of a new car in today's market. The Maverick continues to be either hard to find or hit with dealer mark ups and every new model year is ~$1600 more. I used to think that I would trade my 2023 in if they made a plug-in hybrid but then I realized that it would probably be $10k or more for a plugin and get 30 miles of electric range. I'd just rather get another lightly used Chevy Bolt and only drive the Maverick to pick up stuff and for long road trips...
The fuel mileage rules in the USA have also impacted this. There are different standards for different categories of vehicle. The subcompact econobox standards have become almost impossible to meet. The car manufacturers don't complain because they don't make much money from those cars anyway. This is also the reason for the CVT transmissions that almost no one wants to buy.
Excellent video: good research which you presented concisely. Thank you for giving information, not hype. I would like to see a total cost of ownership video comparing a lower cost (sub$25000) gas car to a similar ev. I wouldn't be surprised if the ev was the cheaper option in the end, considering fuel, repairs and maintenance costs over 7 years. It might be a good option for folks looking to save.
Did it ever occur to anybody gripping about car prices that our own government is responsible for much of the price increases. We have politicians designing cars instead of leaving that to engineers. Politicians demand many, many features, mostly in the name of safety and/or environment concerns. Tell your Congress person or Senator you demand cheap cars. Like that will do any good.
I’d love to see the Suzuki Jimny here in the US. Also, this is looking a lot like what happened in the 1970s, with the large American cars and Japan bringing the small affordable efficient cars. Someone’s gonna take advantage of the hole in the market
I think that there is a huge opportunity for any car manufacturer to bring a reliable $19,999 car to the USA - If it happens, it will come from Korea or Japan likely, both markets have smaller cars available.
I recall when a Maverick WAS NOT a pickup. It had 4 doors and a trunk. Guess what I took the test for my civilian drivers license in? This was a few months after I had obtained my Military License.
Lolz. My dad had a Maverick when I was a kid in the 80s. He got talked into it after my mom wrecked his Mustang. I think the ‘stang was a ‘76. I seem to remember a story of him lobbying to buy one to commemorate my birth. I mean it’s silly to think about now but I think he was just pleased as punch to have had a son.
The production numbers for the Ford Maverick are a bit misleading. Ford couldn't make enough of them. Ordered mine 10/21 for MSRP/$100 deposit, took delivery 2/23. The big part of the wait was I wanted a hybrid. It was a difficult time to buy. At the time I sold my '20 F150 XL with 40K miles for more than I paid for it and bought the Maverick, no loan. Yes, build them and they will come.
Not to mention the interest rate hikes. The people who shop for sub $20K cars are typically ones that don't have an 800+ credit score, meaning they're not going to get the best interest rates on auto loans. So when rates jump up across the board it quickly pushes that payment out of the affordability range for people in that group.
Thanks for telling the truth ! I have a Nissan Frontier with a 4 cylinder, 5 speed , roll up windows and a real 6.5 foot usable bed and an extra cab for additional storage. I bought it with 10k miles in showroom condition for $ 11,000 . It has been super reliable and is 20 years old with only 160k miles, and looks and runs great. Most people want vehicles that are less loaded with all the tech gadgets and more simple and reliable at a decent price ! No payments for 16 years !
I think the manufacturers are going to have to re think this. During Covid, consumers were price gouged on used cars. Now, when buyers want to do a trade, they find that they owe more than the car is worth, decreasing their overall purchase power. You can build cars that sell for 30 to 40 thousand dollars. I have no idea who will buy them, because we can't afford them. Part of the strategy could also be to increase consumer reliance on leasing ( a huge rip off that only benefits the car companies and the dealers)
No one's gonna miss the Mirage. But they'll miss the Fit, and other small, parkable, affordable cars. No one wants a three-door hatchback anymore? Priced around 14, 15 grand? Nothing fancy? No car company can make a profit selling a car like that? The world's gone daft...
Oh they CAN make a profit ... just not ENOUGH PROFIT. The incentive structure at the top of American corporations is very distorted, and GREED runs rampant. (And corruption, which goes hand-in-hand with GREED).
@@capnkirk5528no, the incentive structure is undercutting. You don't know anything of what your talking about. Most companies make 5% margins. In automakers, they make 1-5%. 1-5% net profit isn't corporate greed. If they're so greedy, they'd be profitable, and I'd say invest. Please, invest your money in the automakers. Then, you'll actually read the reports, go to shareholder meetings, and realize how trash this business is. Exactly why you LITERALLY can't pay Mr to invest in these companies. You want corporate greed? Nvidia has a 50% profit margin. That's where I invest. 1-5% profit margin? Where you regularly lose money? You guys literally are clueless about business.
@@theadvocate4698 Nope. the us gov will outright BAN chinese cars. watch. they cannot let them in, the remaining us car makers would die in a year. Oh, unless, of course the us gov got some percentage, say to um, look the other way....
Being retired I watch the Price is Right on occasion. I always chuckle when Drew Carey smiles about having a Mitsu Mirage as a prize. I know he knows. Simply the worst vehicle available.
You've got to hand it to auto manufacturer marketing. Over the years they have managed to tie an automobile to a man's ego. This is especially evident in the sale of pickup trucks. The most stupid people among us will always fall for this and spend their last dime on a ridiculously over-priced, gas-guzzling, obnoxious vehicle. Note: I am not talking about trades, farmers, ranchers, etc. I am talking about the idiots that buy these things to commute to work, go to the store, etc. Who do you think you're kidding? What you lack in manhood, you try to make up with a machine? Wake up! You've been programmed to do this by the marketeers!
Pressure from potential customers might just force the market to allow the importation of those dreaded cheap Chinese cars. I can’t see Americans going back to riding the bus(if you can find one) or taking non existent trains. Very few are willing or able to walk everywhere. Or ride bicycles.
I want a car that’s stripped down for $17k to $20k possibly with a manual, a want a crossover for $19k to $21k for the base depending on if it has AWD/4x4 or not, a regular cab compact and midsize truck for under $25k and a base non work truck full size starting at $30k we want every automobile manufacturer to have sub $32k on their budget makes. I also want the EPA to get rid of their stupid rule that prevents us from having 80s and 90s compact trucks.
i was in a ford dealership last year, they had 4 broncos on the showroom floor. they had this sign on them, 'dont sell, recall notice, no fix at this time'. yeah that made me want to buy a overpriced bronco. i laffed.
CAFE standards are likely a large factor. Adding all the tech to make the fuel economy requirements prices the out of the target market. Most of the cars listed here are small cars. It is easier to achieve the fuel economy requirements on larger vehicles.
The issue lies in the increasing complexity of modern vehicles. While many consumers purchase affordable cars out of necessity, they often desire simplicity and practicality. If manufacturers offered a basic, no-frills truck similar to the F-150 models from the 1990s, it would likely be very popular. The Ford Maverick is inexpensive but doesn't fully meet the demand for a true, simple pickup truck. A straightforward, reliable truck priced around $25,000, similar to the HiLux Champ, would likely sell like hot cakes!
The companies are being run by the accountants. I remember looking for a new vehicle years ago, the only ones on dealer lots were fully loaded. I had to custom order a truck stripped of all the options that I neither wanted nor needed. It’s the same issue as paint color, the majority of vehicles purchased by dealers are white. So when buyers buy a car off the lot, it’s typically white. It’s not the customer driving the demand, but the dealers.
Under normal circumstances I wouldn't even reply I hope that you don't see this as conflict but I think you might be slightly misinformed man this is just greed flat out there's no reason for this there's no cause it's just greed.
Automakers not building "affordable" vehicles is the same reason homebuilders do not build "affordable" housing. There are bigger profit margins on more expensive items.
I think it's more sinister than just greed. It's about controlling the pleebs. If you can't afford a car, you have to rely on government transportation that keeps you within a city .
Look what happened to the 2024 Tacoma. There are some small improvements, but... A 2018 TRD pro went for 41k, while a 2024 goes for $80k. 10 years ago, a base model Tacoma was $19k
You are the problem. The mirage is a small cheap car but when you say make it "a little bigger" it will no longer be a small cheap car or even a cheap car. The same people who told ford and chevy you wish the ranger and s-10 were "just a littler bigger." Now you get your wish and it is no longer small and alot more expensive.
Avoid the Mirage, it can hardly be considered a car. If you don't like it and decide to sell it you will lose most of the money you put into it. You are better off buying a slightly used pre-owned car as the depreciation hit will have been paid by the previous owner.
@@bryanmiller2023 I bought new and drove a chevy aveo for 14 years. Before that I owned 2 different geo metros. My 92 metro 3cyl 1.0 xfi which got 60mpg all day long. My 93 standard 3cyl 1.0 metro got 50mpg consistently. I loved them for what they were. $9000 cheap commuter car. Those 12" tires cost me $25 each at the time. Cheap to buy, cheap to maintain, cheap to own. Ridiculously easy to park in the city. The mirage is no different. If you don't consider it a car don't buy one but leave the rest of us alone. You want a big car, go get one. Some of us don't need a $80,000 truck to boost our self esteem. I've owned fox body mustangs which I loved, an S-10 4.3 4x4 5sp stripped bought new in 1991 for $13,900 when people bought trucks to use them instead of telling the world they are a man. My last 2 cars were subarus. Each vehicle had their benefits and drawbacks. If GM built the 1992 geo metro xfi again I would be one of the first in line buying one. Maybe some day you will realize your vehicle does not define you. Your character does.
It's more profitable and less risky to make more expensive models. The cost of that luxury 80k car and that budget 20k car is pretty close. While the profit margins of that luxury car are much higher. And they don't care that people cannot afford, it because many of those who cannot afford will buy those expensive models.
After being a driver for 38 years, I am now on public transportation. My ‘06 Toyota Camry finally died,and I can’t afford the new car prices. I’ve been looking for a gently used 3year old car and that’s a unicorn. Every small car I see has 75-100k miles on it cuz it’s been used as a small delivery vehicle. And you know nothing has been done to it but oil changes. I am saving up for a new car. On the bright side, public transportation hasn’t been as horrible as I thought. And I’ve dropped 5 lbs because of the walking to and from the bus stops. My motto is cheer up buttercup. I’m using this time to also review car buying videos so that I can be prepared for the car buying experience.
@@In-obscurity-n7jThere's a good reason used EVs are cheap, they tend to become money pits as they get older. The complicated electronics tend to fail, as well as the battery, costing upwards of $25,000 to replace.
An older Honda or Toyota with 100,000 miles has at least that many miles left in it if it has been maintained. Tons of Japanese cars running just fine with well over 200k miles.
Maverick is not cheap anywhere near me. That same low trim you mentioned is $38,000. Why I have no idea? The clear answer is that the dealerships in my area are just plain assholes.
The situation with light pickups is the same. My 2nd gen (2016) Colorado with manual transmission was in the low 20s. There is no similar Colorado in the 3rd gen, and they typically cost twice as much. I'm keeping my 2016 until I'm no longer driving.
Last year I started looking for an affordable midsize truck that looked like a traditional truck. Was disappointed to learn that GM discontinued the extended cab Colorado in favor of the more expensive crew cabs. Many sites said that ‘no one bought’ the non-crews. When extended cabs were available they were few in number, Work Truck trim, usually plain white, and painted steel wheels. Of course no one bought them, biting the bullet and paying more for loaded up crew cabs.
You have got to be kidding. You're the perfect example of people driving up the cost of vehicles! I used to own a work truck and you know what. It did everything I needed a truck to do.
You that right, would have bought a new Colorado this year if the ex-cab were made. I want a TRUCK, not a luxury SUV on a truck frame to take kids to soccer. And stop loading them up with the luxury items, trucks #1 job is to work. Oh, and the size is that of a Silverado from 8 years ago.
There are a lot of affordable options worldwide, you have several regulations that make cars very expensive. Look at Suzuki new models, all hybrid and with decent equipment and reliability
I think dealers are using vehicles like the Maverick to bring people in and talk them up to the F150, most dealerships only keep a few on hand, there's lower profit margins in lower priced vehicles for them too. At some point one manufacturer will see that entire market segment vacated by everyone else and will jump in with literally no competition and an opportunity to make money through volume, which is what they all used to do. It's gross, really, what has come of the industry.
Well, in Europe you can got a brand new Dacia Sandero for around 13'890 Euros (which is almost the same in US dollars - only 5% more, like 14'585 USD; actually not so long ago it used to be below 12'000 Euros, so prices are growing here in EU too), but those come ONLY with manual, which is fine for us, Europeans, but might not be so popular in the USA. 😆
Car models get the axe because they are losing money on them. This is just reality. Another thing to keep in mind is this: government regulations restrict what vehicles manufacturers can actually make, how they have to make them, etc., which raises manufacturing costs, making it harder to manufacture low cost cars. One example of this is trucks vs cars. Trucks are allowed to have lower fuel efficiency than cars. This forces cars to have smaller engines with lower performance. This turns off most everyone; most people want higher performance, not lower performance.
Yep. Good video and good analysis. Thanks. But another point - cars (and trucks) have gotten way too complicated and way too expensive to fix when way to many things can go wrong. I drive a 2004 Nissan Frontier pickup that I bought new. It has over 190,000 miles on it, with few repairs. It's not as visually impressive as a new vehicle, but it more than meets my needs, and I hope to get another 190,000 miles out of it. When I need a key replacement, it costs me under $10 to get a replacement (no chip, no battery, no fob). A friend had to replace his key fob recently and it cost him over $300. That's just one example of the advantage of cheaper vehicles, expecially ones with less whizz-bang tech. My wife just bought a 2024 RAV 4, and I chringe at all that can go wrong on that car and what it would cost to fix it.
