Does anyone remember the Before Time?
It was a time, not a long time ago – about ten years ago – when it was common for family cars in the $30k range to come standard with V6 engines and V8s were expected in luxury cars, especially the big ones. Models like the Mercedes S-Class, for instance and its rivals from Audi, Lexus, BMW and so on. You paid that kind of money and you didn’t get a six for it – much less a turbo 2.0. Ten years ago, some of the foregoing luxury cars came with V12s for that kind of money – so as to further distance themselves from cars that cost less than half six figures.
In these times, there are only a few cars priced under $100k that still offer V8s, one of them being the almost $80k Genesis G90 (a rival of the Benz S-Class and others listed above) and the soon-to-be-dearly-departed Dodge Charger, which is the only car you can still get with a V8 for less than $40k. This mid-sized sedan is about to go the way of the Ford Crown Victoria (RIP 2011).
The latter was the last full-sized (six passenger) family car that came standard with a V8 and for less than $30k when it was last new.
That was just ten years ago, too.
This year – last week – the company that is the parent company of Dodge announced that next year will be the final year for the Charger, too. After which they’ll both be gone and that will leave the Genesis G90 as the Last of the V8 Mohicans you can still buy for less than $100,000.
Even the Benz S doesn’t come standard with one for that kind of money anymore.
To get the V8, you’ve got to spend significantly more money – to the tune of $117,700 for the S580. It is the only car available with a V8 that Mercedes still offers. It wasn’t all that long ago that V8s were available in the E-Class sedan, which is Mercedes’ mid-sized (and mid-priced) luxury sedan. One notch below the S-Class.
Today, this same model comes standard with a . . . 2.0 liter four. So does its BMW analog, the 5 Series sedan.
Isn’t it grand?
Actually, it is a metric of our impoverishment. None of the cars referenced already have gotten less expensive, notwithstanding that those who buy them are getting less – literally – for their money. And not just physically – in terms of physical displacement/number of cylinders. The little fours in the mid-sized models don’t make as much power as the V6s that were formerly standard in these models (e.g., as recently as 2015, the Benz E350 came standard with a 3.5 liter, 302 horsepower V6; the current E350 comes standard with a 255 hp 2.0 liter four) and the optional sixes – which require paying hugely more to get them – aren’t as powerful as the V8s you used to be able to get in these models but can’t anymore (such as the 550 horsepower 5.5 liter V8 that was formerly available in the E-Class).
But you do get a really big LCD touchscreen and ambient mood lighting. Along with “sound augmentation” to inauthentically replicate the sound of what’s no longer there but which you’re paying more for, anyhow.
This is not meant to bash the luxury car makers. It is an attempt to convey that we are being bashed – by the government – which has very slyly all-but-illegalized the V8 (and the V6) without actually having decreed them to be illegal. This has been done via regulations that V8s (and V6s) increasingly cannot comply with and by making it crystal clear to the manufacturers – as we car journalists refer to the car companies – that they had better make the handful of non-electric cars they’re still selling less appealing than electric cars – so as to sell fewer of then, in favor of more electric cars.
A good example of this sub rosa coercion (and complicity) being the ’23 Chevy Malibu I reviewed recently. It is a mid-sized, mid-priced family car that GM seems to be deliberately choking to death – by offering it with nothing more than a 1.5 liter four that makes far less power (all of 160 hp) than the 3.6 liter (252 hp) V6 that was available in this car back in 2010 – only 11 eleven years ago.
Back when other cars in the class commonly offered V6s – and V8s were still standard in family cars like the full-sized Crown Victoria. There are no longer any full-sized family cars. Full stop. If you want a full-sized car, you have to buy a luxury car – and pay close to six figures for it, too.
If you want more than just a four, you almost have to buy a luxury-priced car to get it. And if you want a V8, forget about it.
Unless you can afford to pay six figures for it.
Is anyone else noticing it? The way we’re being systematically made to accept less – and pay more for it? Keep in mind that what is happening – this hollowing out – is not the result of natural market forces, which would under natural influences result in more for less. That is how it used to work, in the Before Time – when the market was determined by the interplay between demand and supply.
The “market” is now under the sway of government, which decrees what will be supplied and – thus – what we will pay.
Pop the hood of the newest cars (and have a look at the window sticker) and see for yourself.
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Cars are freedom, and the left hates freedom.
Americans, through government schooling, love to follow mandates, executive orders,
directives, CDC demands, etc., seemingly anything that doesn’t require thinking. Most of the orders don’t even apply to them – they just do it, including the heads of auto corporations.
“The trouble with ignorance is that it picks up confidence as it goes along.” – Arnold Glasgow
Stellantis’ stock price per share is 14.07 USD, pays a dividend of $1.09, has a PE of 2.89, is undervalued, the projected price is 25.62 USD.
Buy 3000 shares of Stellantis at 14.07, you’ll pay 42,210 dollars, receive dividends of 3,270 USD per year while you own it, watch it climb to the target price, pocket 75,000 dollars plus dividends when you sell, you’ll be swimming in gopher gravy. You’ll eventually sell some day.
Better than buying a new vehicle that’ll set you back enough to severely bend you.
Stellantis has lots of institutional holders. Pays a dividend better than Ford and about the same price range.
Simple decision.
They are getting ESG money for pushing EV’s, financed by taxpayers, might be a way to get taxes back….lol
We are definitely under attack. See the recent two posts below (as I write this).
Not too long ago, things kept getting bigger (or smaller), better, and cheaper when allowed to succumb to natural market forces.
A few hundred years ago people fought the oppressive thumb of government. Now government is more slick. They are able to oppress you even more without you even noticing.
So long as it’s done for the environment, for the children, for safety, almost no one questions it.
Commiefornia goes full communist tomorrow:
‘California on Thursday is expected to put into effect its sweeping plan to prohibit the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035.
“This is huge,” said Margo Oge, an electric vehicles ‘expert’ [sic] who headed the EPA’s transportation emissions program under Clinton, Bush and Obama. “California will now be the only government in the world that mandates zero-emission vehicles. It is unique.”
‘The rule, issued by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), will require that 100 percent of new cars sold in the state by 2035 be free of the fossil fuel emissions chiefly responsible for warming the planet [sic], up from 12 percent today. Interim targets require 35 percent of new vehicles to produce zero emissions by 2026, climbing to 68 percent by 2030.
‘The restrictions are important because not only is California the largest auto market in the United States, but more than a dozen other states typically follow California’s lead when setting their own auto emissions standards.’ — New York Slimes
https://dnyuz.com/2022/08/24/california-to-ban-the-sale-of-new-gasoline-cars/
THIS IS WAR.
Eject Commiefornia from the United States … or elect a freedom president in 2024, and goad Cali communists to flake off on their own.
And here I thought the sun was chiefly responsible for warming the planet. I guess that’s the “new” science, huh?
“California on Thursday is expected to put into effect its sweeping plan to prohibit the sale of new gasoline-powered cars by 2035.“
Got ya beat Commifornia! Up here in the Soviet of Washington we’re leading the pack with new cars electric only 2030 !! Bill signed by fearless leader Jaydolf Dimslee in March.
https://electrek.co/2022/03/25/washington-passes-bill-targeting-all-electric-car-sales-by-2030-for-real-this-time/
I’ll hold up a finger too, but it won’t be the same one as the lemmings in that picture.
Pretty curius how this “mandate” will play out. So once the allotted amount of ICE cars are sold the dealers are supposed to sit on a collection of EVs until they sell? Bizarro world
New front in the War on Emissions: cut off financing.
‘In a statement Friday, Bank Australia said it would scrap loans for new fossil fuel vehicles from 2025. Sasha Courville, its chief impact officer, said that date had been picked “because the change to electric vehicles needs to happen quickly.”
‘The bank, Courville added, believed this could happen “with the right supporting policies in place to bring a greater range of more affordable electric vehicles to Australia.”
‘While there will be no more loans for new combustion engine vehicles — including hybrids — from 2025, Bank Australia will continue to provide them for used ones.
“We’ll continue to offer loans for second-hand fossil fuel vehicles until there is a viable and thriving market for electric vehicles,” it said.
https://www.cnbc.com/2022/08/22/australian-bank-to-scrap-loans-for-new-diesel-and-gasoline-cars-.html
Watch for US banksters to fall in line with this climate-virtue policy.
Eighty-five (85) percent of new vehicle sales are financed.
Banning loans for ICE vehicles turns the lights out, overnight.
Eric, you mention the demise of the Crown Vic and upcoming end of the Charger. I wonder what the AGW’s (“law enforcement”) will have to switch to now as their vehicle of choice? Most in my part of Kentucky use Chargers. Well, the state cops and larger city police do. The rural areas seem to have Durango’s and Dodge full size pickups.
The end of the Crown Vic put most of the cops around here into Explorers. The highway patrol has a bunch of Chargers, but the various PDs seem to have a mix of Explorers and Tahoes, depending on the department.
Peasant car motor in a luxury car, disgusting. And enjoy your arthritic hands from that -vibrate the steering wheel at idle- four banger.
In my 1979 Pontiac, the 301 V8 was so smooth often a passenger would comment while waiting at a stoplight “I think your engine stopped “. Nope, just a nicely balanced American V8 working like it should.
It’s easy to see why the young’uns have no interest in cars these days- As a long-time ‘car guy’, all of these new cars disgust me! They’re disposable look-alike overweight cell-phones-on-wheels. Even if the performance on some of ’em can be quite good, it comes at the price of being in an isolated plastic disconnected-from-the-road cocoon, lackluster styling, and greatly reduced durability, as well as the detriment of not being able to work on/customize ‘your’ car…which is soon to not even be ‘your car’ but rather just something you rent or catch a ride in…..
The only thing that remains of the once great car culture is the marketing which still manages to goad people into paying endlessly for these boring plastic turds.
Hi Nunzio, while I agree with you for the most part. The LD trucks have gotten so good, at least right now they are. Big with 4 doors like the old boat sedans, power and ride like them too. They have become my daily drivers.
Few exceptions out there like the Mazda Miata and a few Subaru vehicles. Maybe a VW GTI I guess. But yes, at the end of the line for nonbloated nanny vehicles even with ICE.
Completely agree. As a youngish person, I never thought modern cars were “cool” because they weren’t. Old cars were cool, but they’re old.
ALSO, what’s the point of having a cool fast car if you have to worry about a speeding ticket of $275 and a 15 minute stop from Officer Fuckface?
Hi Michael,
As an unreformed “speeder,” herewith some gospel:
Thou must always have a good radar detector and use it.
Thou must maintain situational awareness.
Thou must develop a sixth sense for the scent of swine.
Thou must learn to “speed” discreetly.
Thou must be willing to flee, when necessary – and know how to “get away” with it.
I have been following the gospel for lo these many decades and my DMV record is “clean.”
Yours can be, too.
This is exactly why my wife doesn’t want to trade in her existing 2015 A8 with a 4.0T for a newer A8 with a stupid V6. And even then it’s not a big V6 it’s a little bitty (for the car) 3.0T.
For a car the size and weight of an A8 a V6 3.0T is absolutely stupid.
A Genesis GV-70 (not sure of the years) have a V6 3.5T and don’t claim to be the “flagship” of anything!
I have had a back-and-forth with an Audi salesman — and that was like 5 years ago — about how those 2.0T 4-bangers are stupid and underpowered. The fact that he even started to justify it, left me at “ok, we’re done here” with nothing to say.
Both my wife and I are resigned to just buying used cars until either we don’t drive any longer or until they’re outlawed. A used S-550 with a V8 will suit us just fine. We have no interest in all the latest bullshit features. If it doesn’t impress when you push down the throttle it ain’t worth much. Simple as that.
And if it ain’t worth much then I ain’t gonna buy it for stupid money. Period.
I can already get a bog-machine I4 from Toyota that will outlast ANY freaking Audi, any day of the week and for far less money. These bastards have a reckoning coming. I can’t wait to see it.
Everything they are doing is to make vehicle ownership unpalatable, in fact the elite scabs have even started saying that private vehicle ownership is not “sustainable”.
But of course, the aforementioned elite scabs will be able to own their own vehicles, and jet around in their private aeroplanes, scoffing salmon and steak whilst they force the rest of us to eat the boogs and live in the pod.
Quite telling that the EU’s recent aviation tax increase was NOT levied on private planes, we can’t have that now can we.
The way I see it, these people think they are a lot cleverer than they actually are, and what has historically happened to corrupt elites throughout history will not happen to them.
I’m not sure if you have heard about it Eric, as its not directly applicable (but something similar will be in the works for my American cousins), is something called the UK Fires (ukfires dot org/absolute-zero) report. There is a chart on page 5 which basically says that everything in the UK will be shutting down, including airports etc to meet this idiotic net zero crap. I guarantee the EPA will be working on something similar to this.
Scott,
Of course it’s not “sustainable”. Because they intend to do whatever it takes to make it unsustainable. Which is the bottom line. They want you walking, biking, or riding the bus. Period. Hard to control people who can just get up and go a thousand miles whenever and wherever they please.
UK Fires report — Scott W
Looked up the figure you mentioned (pp. 6-7 in link below):
2030-49
All remaining airports close
All shipping declines to zero
Beef and lamb phased out
Iron ore and limestone phased out
Cement and new steel phased out
All conventional mortar and concrete phased out
Fossil fuels completed [sic] phased out
https://tinyurl.com/advpy2tz
This is utterly, barking mad.
Only intellectual-yet-idiot academics (every single member of ‘the team’) could endorse such a sociopathic programme for human extinction.
UK Fires resembles nothing so much as Chairman Mao’s Great Leap Forward (1958-62), which killed tens of millions by starvation.
We have to get away from the mistaken, dishonest notion that hydrocarbons are a result of dead dinosaurs and plants. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Far from being “fossil fuel”, hydrocarbons are not only plentiful but are being created by yet-unknown processes deep within the earth.
The term “fossil fuel” was coined in the 1950s when little was known about the processes by which oil is produced. Oil is “abiotic” in nature, as even depleted oil wells are “filling back up” from deep below the earth’s surface.
Oil interests are drilling wells at 5,000 feet, 10,000 feet, and 15,000 feet and deeper, and coming up with oil deposits way below the layers and levels where “fossils” were known to exist.
As Russia gained much expertise in deep-well drilling and coming up with oil deposits far deeper than that of the level of “fossils”, abiotic oil at extreme depths was actually a Russian “state secret” for a long time.
Not only that, but there are planetary bodies in which hydrocarbons are naturally occurring (without fossils).
“Peak oil” and “fossil fuels” are discredited concepts that environmentalists and others are latching on to, in order to display their hatred of oil being a renewable resource as well as to push prices up.
Follow the money.
A friend of mine, a life long oilfield worker, told me all of that in the ’70’s.
Sounds like a collectivists wet dream. Makes you wonder, do these cotton headed schmucks think they will somehow be immune from this lifestyle they intend to force on everyone else? I’ve long thought people who believe in this kind of crap, must really think of themselves as ‘special persons.’ Could it all be traced back to participation trophies?
Scott, it gets even better. If you do a little digging, UK Fires is a UK GOV’T SPONSORED THINK TANK! IOW, what that UK Fires document represents is current British gov’t thinking.
Never ever forget that these restrictions are not law. They are regulation. Which congress has authorized. Which the Constitution does not allow. It is an abdication of authority. Defeating the very purpose of the separation of powers. Much as Congress has done the same regarding the Presidency. Except the regulators have not been elected, and suffer no consequences of the destructive nature of their regulations. In fact, the more destructive they are, the more likely they are to get a promotion, and a pay increase. Bureaucracy, formerly a aspect of government, has become our form of government.
And these same bastards putting all these “regulations” in place know full well that they’re doing an end-run around the democratic process. All the while crying out about they’re “precious democracy”. That’s funny… my “representatives” didn’t get a vote — even if they remotely “represented” my interests.
This is rule by decree or diktat. This isn’t much different than a monarchy except we have show elections every now and then to elect the royalty. And even that, if it doesn’t go their way, they’ll just in-your-face fraudulently rig and then start witch hunts after anyone that dares to point out how obvious it is.
Complete bullshit.
wasn’t there a recent SCOTUS ruling that said the EPA has no power to regulate? Haven’t heard much about the reaction to that.
‘wasn’t there a recent SCOTUS ruling that said the EPA has no power to regulate?’ — ChrisIN
Yes: West Virginia v EPA
BUT … none other than ‘Senator’ Joe Manchin of WV, in his Inflation Reduction Act, essentially nullified that SCOTUS ruling by defining carbon dioxide emitted by burning hydrocarbons as a pollutant … and creating a $27 billion EPA slush fund for green projects.
Like the scorpion stinging the frog halfway across the river (meaning death for both), Manchin’s only answer for fatally sabotaging his own state and people is, “It’s my nature.”
Or in different words … “What the HELL did you expect? I’m a DemonRat, man.”
If one were intrepid enough, you could re-power a new car with a rebuilt / crate engine of choice.
Hi Mike,
Yes, but you’d literally have to gut the car. Nothing would work – because everything is interconnected. It is not like it was, back in the Before Time – as when my ’76 Trans-Am was made – when one could swap any engine that would physically fit and the rest of the car would work. Those days are gone.
Even changing something similar as the air filter (e.g. from OEM to a high flow one like a K&N), things won’t necessarily work; if they do, it won’t be optimised for the high flow filter. Why? The ECU is calibrated to work with the OEM filter, that’s why. Unlike the old days when you could just rejet the carb when changing to a high flow filter and/or exhaust, now the ECU has to be reprogrammed. Ah, but to do that, you need to go to the dyno, so you can SEE the changes! It costs a lot of time and money to do that, whereas it didn’t before. Let me tell you a story about my motorcycle.
As you know, I got a 2022 Royal Enfield Meteor 350 last year. I swapped out the OEM filter and airbox intake, because they were too restrictive for my liking. I installed a DNA high flow filter and airbox intake. While the bike performed and sounded better, there were unexpected side effects of the change.
One, the bike vibrated much more than it did stock. In stock trim, there’s almost no vibration, thanks to the counterbalancer RE put in the engine; with the DNA filter and airbox intake on, the bike vibrated enough to where I couldn’t ride much more than an hour or so before my hands went numb. Two, the power delivery, which had been great in stock trim, was no jerky and unpredictable, especially when coming off idle when accelerating out of a turn. In stock trim, I didn’t have either of these issues; it was buttery smooth in stock trim. However, with the DNA filter and airbox intake on, it was jerky and unpredictable, making powering out of a turn unsettling, to say the least.
Now, could I have corrected these issues? Sure, but it would’ve meant going to someone who has a dyno and knows how to reprogram ECUs, so as to be able to modify the ECU’s mapping to compensate for the changes made to the bike. Why? Because, thanks to the emissions regs (even India’s emission regs are roughly equivalent to the Euro standards now), the ECU and all the bike’s components were designed with the objective of meeting the emissions regs; deviating from those parameters takes a lot of time and money. Since the Meteor isn’t a high performance bike, I decided it wasn’t worth the time or effort to modify it like that. If I get their 650 Super Meteor (when available, that is), whose engine will have four valves/cylinder and has performance potential built in to it, I might do that, as it’ll be more worthwhile.
But yeah, if you want to make a change, you have to make a bunch of other changes along with it. If I ran in to all of that with a simple, modestly powered single cylinder motorcycle, can you imagine the issues you’d run in to trying to swap out the engine in a modern car? YIKES! I don’t even want to think about it…
Mike,
Many gearheads have had the same thought. Unfortunately for large swaths of folks in America and Europe that’s strictly verboten. No matter how safe and environmentally clean your engine swap is you’ll get failed on your next inspection. Your car will be deemed illegal for road use and the f*cking pigs will be creeping somewhere waiting to spot your non-compliant ugly ass windshield sticker to give you a fine or wood shampoo. Personally, I’d love to convert dead EV’s into carbed gassers and sell them to Californians so they could avoid emissions tests and spew sweet hydrocarbon on EV only lanes.
BlackFlag,
Do it. Of course you will have to wait for an abundant supply of dead EVs, which will die from needing a new battery, but its an inevitable supply. And probably a cheap one. I’m too old to wait. If not, I would likely consider investment in such enterprise. Of course the Psychopaths In Charge have nothing to do but forecast such effort, and will likely find means to dispose of it before it happens.
Only in the deep blue states BlackFlag. In a rural state I frequent, no inspection, no nothing. Once you get your first registration, you can do what you want, and many do. In fact, now that I think about it, you could take your car in (just to check the VIN), without a CAT, and they wouldn’t know or care.
ChrisIN,
It’s true the inspection scam exists in mostly communist areas but there are outliers like TEXAS. The problem is putrid safety states seem to have the highest populations and their awful policies get normalized there to get spread around the country like wet dog sh*t on a shoe. If the collective can’t change the politics in flyover areas they’ll gladly cut off resources like cheap fuel to force migration into the smart cities. Might be time to build a still and plant a potato patch.
It’s interesting that the powers that be want to discourage Americans from buying large SUV’s and trucks, but that’s where you still find room for 6 and powerful V8’s. At least for now. The hemi is disappearing in trucks too so I have to keep mine alive as long as I can.
A lot of these small mid size and compact cars have engines smaller and weaker than some motorcycles. For those of us who love to drive, it’s the end of an era.
…and somehow they still manage to ream these puny engines into the bodies of obese sedans and crossovers. If we’re to suffer with the ownership of a turbostuffed micro-four the least they could do is leave some space to work on it.
It’s been said here before before but it bears repeating: they’re deliberately engineering ICE vehicles to be awful to scare people away from them. The younger crowd will embrace the EV tarbaby because they never knew how reliable gas powered cars got in the eighties to mid-oughts. All they’ll ever experience is the rube goldberg lemons being defecated on us as a final F.U. to freedom.
Hi BlackFlag,
That’s it – exactly. And I think that, just maybe, people are beginning to realize it… as hard as it can be to believe it. I’m sure Jewish people awaiting “transport to the East” had a similar experience.
Still don’t understand the resistance to plug in hybrids. Government doesn’t like them, manufacturers don’t like them, yet seems like something far more palatable to consumers. From what I’ve read, Volt owners love the things. Prius owners are a cult. My next vehicle could very well be an F150 with Powerboost, if they actually exist.
Seems like a clear case of “perfect is the enemy of the good.” Instead of focusing on reduction (at the tailpipe) the requirement is complete elimination (at the tailpipe). Instead of the road to electrification being iterative, it is an all-or-nothing bet. Yes, from model year to year of course there’s going to be some improvement, but if you’re still paying off the loan for last year’s (or seven years ago) model, you don’t get the benefit of evolution. At least with a plug-in hybrid you don’t have all of the downside. And there’s significant upside too.
Hi RK,
The “why” is easy to understand – once you understand that government does not like plug-ins because they work. Because that makes EVs look bad.
supposedly, ram is coming out with 3 new versions
new 3.0 straight 6 TT
plug-in hybrid
full EV
We know the 3.0TT gas engine is on it’s way to vehicles soon.
Ram is saying more info coming on the other two soon.
I want to hear them say it. I want them to tell the truth, that the reason why “we cannot have nice things” is because the evil bureaucracy and their puppet masters won’t allow men to flourish.
Who wouldn’t want a car that gets 50 MPG and still does 0 to 60 in 5 seconds? One that can refuel in minutes, but if one can charge overnight might not need refueling for weeks or months? It wouldn’t take much to put the majority of Americans in hybrids.
RK,
Plug-in hybrids work too well. They increase mobility while only marginally increasing initial cost. eCVT transmissions and atkinson cycle gas engines have proven themselves to be the most reliable and lowest maintenance ICE arrangement hands down. THAT is why plug-ins will never be a common option on all makes and models. They last too long, sapping the automakers revenue. They use very little fuel, allowing drivers to keep their hard earned pay from being consumed by the black hole gas tax. They completely obliterate the justification for EV’s by providing the benefits of partial electric propulsion without the crippling handicap of limited range, long refueling times and economically unfeasible battery replacement costs…speaking of which, hybrids are much more gentle on their batteries by virtue of the gasoline engines ability to assist in moving the car and keeping the high voltage pack a State Of Charge sweet spot.
Even trucks are feeling the regulatory pressure. Chevy has a god-awful sounding turbo FOUR in the Silverado, Toyota has only a turbo V-6 (with the last model’s HONEST TO GOD V-8 sounds over the speakers) and Ford sells a ton of “Eco”Boost turbo sixes in the F-150. The Expedition is turbo six only. The gas mileage on the forced induction plants is only decent if you’re off the boost, but having to replace thousands of dollars of turbos at 100k or 150k miles is a dealbreaker for me.
My 2010 Tundra turned over 250K and it runs like a glorious top. Typical Toyota, I change the oil and other fluids and it gives me easy, trouble-free work.
I think part of the lack of resistance to these diktats from the Imperial Government based in the Sodom and Gomorrah on the Potomac is that car companies saw that the average age of vehicle fleets has steadily increased over the years. This means fewer people they can rope into debt slavery. Build the cars to need replacement sooner and you get to hook more people into 7-year notes. EVs will also increase the transaction price and their profits. Look at the constant price increases on every model since the Fauxdemic.
I’m still dreaming of the V-8 powered Lexus LC500. Incredible sound. 2023 will probably be its last year. Need to win the lottery.
As expensive and limited quantities of new autos are, you may have to win the lottery to buy an “economy” car with the little 3-cylinder engine in the very near future if not now.
The LC is where I landed when my poor M2C was destroyed. I love BMWs, but despite its futuristic looks the LC is an anachronism and seemed the contrarian’s choice.
Unlike the massively torqued turbos I am accustomed to, you can actually rev the thing out and run it through the (too many) gears without always exceeding triple digit speed.