Manufacturers Promise Cheaper Cars Are On The Way (and thats bad)
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- Опубликовано: 9 фев 2025
- #ACwJ
At the NADA show in New Orleans that just wrapped up multiple manufacturers promised dealers that less expensive models were on the way.
And some manufacturers have shown this can be a boon to sales. GM with it's Buick Envista and Chevy Trax have had great success, for example.
But the approach seems to be marketing driven, not product driven. Most promised less expensive versions of existing products, like the rereleased F150 STX or VW's Tiguan Wolfsburg Edition.
So while consumers, especially the younger buyers, crave more affordable options, the result will be more of the same products, just decontented.
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I don't need or want a car that more luxurious than my living room and has more tech and complexity than a datacenter. I want a fun, reliable, practical, SERVICABLE vehicle that doesn't bankrupt me or spy on me.
I like nice cars but at the end of the day I can't fathom paying anything over $35k for a commuter.
Auto manufacturers definitely need to address a shrinking buyer market. That mere fact that the demographic under the age of 35 are being turned off by how expensive new cars are, they will be less likely to be able to purchase a new vehicle. If you take an even deeper dive on it, fewer and fewer young people are even looking to get a drivers license. Why? Simple, with the advent of Uber/Lyft, the cost of new cars, the cost of insurance, maintenance of a vehicle which is also expensive AND depending upon where you live, the cost to park the vehicle. Its a hell of a lot cheaper for someone in their 20s - 30's who aren't making that much money to order up an Uber to get where they want to go and forgo getting a car. This should be concerning auto manufactures as they are relying on the older demographic to keep purchasing new vehicles which inevitably IS a shrinking demographic that continues to age and eventually pass on. Now making "stripped down" vehicles are is a start in the right direction. Getting away from building the high end models is a way to get the costs down. However, the auto manufacturers really need to concern themselves with a shrinking buyers market. Another area that needs to be fixed is the buying experience. The auto dealership model is a disaster. Its a process fraught with screwing the consumer. That is also a huge turn off for the new car buyer.
Stellantis' high sales in December primarily grew out of their experimentation with fixed pricing at some dealerships in Washington state and a few others. 85% of buyers poled at these locations were much happier with their purchase experience. There's a future in that. But, dealer associations are against it. Wonder why?
1) Decontenting isn't bad because they've been throwing in stuff customers don't want or need forever (when did uou last use your sunroof?), and its been getting worse with increasing technology (why do all cars need to be autonomous?).
2) I would expect that decontented models of a loaded car would help bring insurance prices down. A decontented car would be cheaper to write off because it cost less to buy in the first place. (And maybe insurance companies could figure out how to repair EVs instead of writing them off).
3) A decontented car could *conceivably* get better mileage due to lost weight.
4) There were once decontented cars that were actually more fun to drive than their loaded, upscale versions.
5) Wouldn't it be cheaper (at least in the short term) to decontent an existing design (eg, the STX) than create a new car?
I think simpler, decontented cars are a good thing, and I'd like to see car designs, content, and marketing return to some of the old practices. Manufacturers should also spend more on improving quality and less on bells and whistles (or "key jangling").
Not that I have an opinion... 😂
Feel really good about pulling the trigger on my Ram 1500 Classic 4x4 regular cab 8ft bed with the HEMI for $34,718 off the lot.... 23 miles on it
Good luck finding a new V8 truck for that low....
"Manufactures promise cheaper cars...
HELL YA!
...and that's bad"
*Oh no*
Australia's "SUV & Truck" tax is finally kicking in. Yay! 🎉 Hopefully vehicles will start to get back under 2 tons...roads & parking spaces have not got bigger. Even my sister uses a huge Mazda CX9 as personal transport. It weighs as much as both my cars.
CX9 "huge" 😂
@mc4277 correct. 😂
I can see it now. Instead of average selling price being almost 50,000. It will drop all the way to 48,500. Yea , another victory for us as consumers
They just decontent cars because they can’t sell cheap compact and subcompact cars in high enough volumes anymore. The unreasonable unsafety perception of small cars killed the segment. I LOVE compacts and subcompacts but I’m afraid we won’t see them anytime soon. For now the Nissan Versa does the job.
And they can't make money building affordable housing so only unaffordable housing is built.
I think of the biggest buyers of new vehicles traditionally being people just out of college and then again as newlyweds. Going through four new vehicles in ten years myself just out of college and paying cash with zero interest payments was still a total wealth destroyer. However, the youthful desire to impress people and be a big shot is very powerful. The thing is the only one really impressed with your new vehicle is you. Looking back at being almost 70 years old, new vehicles were such a waste. Depreciation cost back in 1983 were like $375 a month on my Camero Berlinetta. This was on a $12,000 car, bought brand new.
Hi Jon!! I really like this video! Think of how much more affordable cars could be without 7762 air bags and 23 inch monitors.
Not to mention the fact that we don't need a "Ralph Nader approved " car.
The automakers are in a very tight spot. The younger generation wants more affordable cars with all the goodies. But they don't want to pay for said goodies.
Cars are not supposed to cater to your every social media need and desire. Somehow, there needs to be a shift backwards. The younger generation wants a car to be nothing more than a video game on wheels, spending the majority of their time staring at the screen rather than paying attention to pedestrians and other drivers.
Jon... stick with your '14 accord and explorer. Its only getting worse from here.
"Dark interiors are the best" hahahaha
I mostly agree with you. The younger generation, those who want a car at least, want it to be personal transport with all the goodies inside. The struggle is manufacturers can't really lower prices too much because of built-in costs from all the safety and emissions requirements. So they have to pack in tech too.
Forget shifting backwards, I think much of the fear of Chinese vehicles, beyond national security and domestic jobs, is that Chinese EVs are *exactly* what the younger generation wants. And they're willing to pay for it, but the Chi-Coms offer cheaper options too.
It may not always be what *I* want, but let's face it, I'm not the demographic they're targeting.
@AllCarsReacts very very true and well said, Jon!!
@@AllCarsReacts No manufacturer has built a decontented car without the tech goodies in this era. Thus no one really knows if it wouldn't sell well. The Mits. Mirage was practically decontented and sold well. But, was discontinued. Why? Regulators? Maybe we just need less regulators.
In Europe their is the Dacia brand. Great value
Cheaper has been here for a long time. It's just really expensive to buy. Prices are NOT coming down, IDGAF what anyone says.
It is very difficult to create new internal combustion "cars," because restrictive safety and fuel economy standards make the cost of engineering and development very expensive, and that's also just not what people want. Over at Chevrolet the Trax sells very well, in fact I have one and I like it, but it's not a sedan. Yes people want something cheap, but the developing a new sedan or coupe that will always have a relatively low profit margin and requires people to get used to having their butts dragging on the ground again isn't the way to get there.
As long as you're just getting rid of the unnecessary bells and whistles
What of this stripped down $12,000 Toyota pickup rumor has coming out yet may not get imported into the U.S. however, other countries.
In Japan, China, Indochina, the Middle East, most of Africa, and Mexico, Jeep also makes a small vehicle around that price point. In fact, it's not uncommon for international manufacturers to make a small vehicle between $12 and $20,000. But if you get into a crash you're going through the windshield
Decontenting means the manufacturers do not have to spend on redesign, retooling, and new production lines for a new model. This means they are simply lowering their profit margins somewhat on existing models without bearing higher costs of new models. Makes sense. But, will it work in bringing in more buyers? Probably, short term. But, decontenting only means lower prices to a point; not inexpensive cars. Hopefully, they will employ longer term plans in the background and develop lower priced cars eventually. If they don't public transportation may have a burgeoning future which won't make the manufacturers happy. (But, what may push the manufacturers harder to develop low priced cars are the rising costs of ownership such a insurance, which neither you Jon nor other car commentators have had the wear with all to attempt to tackle.)
I disagree with the overall opinion of this video. I would rather have a 40k base model of the most capable chassis I can afford rather than a fully loaded $40k small sedan as an example. Amenities are nice but capability is more important when it’s needed. Also in every other country this is very common to offer these strip down models. Most people don’t realize for years over seas brands like BMW and Mercedes would offer you base level models with steel wheels for example.
I would rather have the 20k base model of a small sedan if it had back seats that fit people that aren't decapitated double amputees, pretty much all models had back seats that fit real people, now only the Mazda 3 sedan version does it somewhat affordably
I'm not arguing they shouldn't offer base versions of the model you want, but offering that as their only "solution" to the affordability problem is the problem.
To stick with your BMW analogy for a moment, imagine a world where to help attract younger and less affluent buyers BMW only offered a stripped-down 3-series. Versus offering a smaller but well equipped 2-series. Oh, they did, it was the 318ti back in the day (here in the US). Some people want the 3-series size but can only afford the stripper, but as history has shown plenty of people wanted the smaller vehicle, well equipped.
@@My_Old_YT_Account The problem is if any manufacturer decides to come up with a new small sedan, it won't cost $20,000. It'll cost $30,000
@@zacharyhenderson2902 that sounds like their problem, I can drive used cars longer than they can stay solvent
Even hondas and Toyotas now use CVT transmissions. Which are known to be much less reliable than a traditional torque converter transaxle
The problem with the less expensive versions is that they get rid of the luxury WITH some of the functionality Otherwise, No one would pay for the luxury models which have higher markups.
For example, the cheaper model y will certainly have lower range or something ridiculous like no heat pump. Most potential buyers won't mind paying for the range.
Instead, they should remove all the self driving and AI components / integrations. Give it regular cruise control or adaptive cruise control, the old school windshield wiper controllers instead of Tesla vision ai nonsense and boom. You save a bunch of production costs, drop the price and make the money. BUT no one would want to buy the fully decked out model y then.
I disagree. Safety features don't go away, because they're mandated, and in terms of luxury features, as long as new vehicles still have Apple carplay and Android auto, almost no functionality is lost at all.
They will all be building in Asia at some point due to lower costs, it's inevitable
price gouging ,