MAYBE if they Fired MORE Workers and RAISE Prices of their Cars all those Unemployed People can Purchase their Vehicles? Have they tried THAT yet?

He has been thinking about replacing his 2020 Ford F-150 pickup truck

Just... wtf.... Your car is only 6 years old and it's just so old that you really think to need to replace it? And your story is so relatable it lands in an article? How much difference can you even see between that 2020 and a 2026 model really?

So they’re responding by making more affordable, efficient vehicles, right? Adopting new technology, right? Right?

“We build cars that are too expensive for most people to buy and we need that profit! What could we do?”

Life in general has been unaffordable for awhile now.

Corporations pay stagnant wages, raise prices, funnel money out of the economy to shareholders who hoard wealth, and then get worried when there's no one left who can buy their products?

Tell me again why we think C-Suite folks are smart?

Right, because they'll get bailed out again and stay rich. That's why.

It's a god damn disgrace.

I'm sure someone will come around and tell me how complicated economics is and why we should trust business and industry leaders who went to school for this sort of thing, like basic pattern recognition and common sense couldn't have predicted that people who can barely afford groceries would stop buying cars...

Fuck.

The auto industry is worried

I mean, they have the power to reduce the price. 🤷‍♂️

Literally the same day this article was published, Hyundai decided to cancel their electric sedan in favor of an SUV-only lineup.

Any cars out there under 30k that are completely manual and don't have a screen, that I can repair myself? No? Well, I'll never buy a new car then, fuck you automakers.

We had millions of those types of cars 20 years ago, now they're nonexistent.

I'll even get an electric if its completely analog. But they refuse to do that even though it takes very very little effort. An electric car is (mostly) a voltage regulator a motor and a battery. Its not hard people.

It's all those blasted safety features! In my day we died every weekend, and we turned out fine!

Almost like Capitalism isn't sustainable, right?

Not just that it's unaffordable but I'm not paying 60k for a car with a porcelain transmission that needs monthly software updates that might just brick the thing.

The auto industry is concerned about a problem of their own making? Shocking.

Nobody asked for a 100k pickup truck. Who wants to throw boards and chains in that?

It's OK, we'll just rent vehicles per journey, and in order to make things more efficient, put extra seats in and run bigger cars between popular destinations. Maybe even use rails for really popular places.

Maybe they'll think of a name for this in the future.

They all sit on each others' boards. There is no real competition.

This isn't just a car problem. The problem is they won't pay us enough, they know it, we know it. They'll do anything to keep from paying us more than the absolute minimum they must. Inflation is just another word for greed. They're going to keep pushing until the entire thing collapses, and then they're going to go hide in their bunkers.

Americans cars just suck and always sucked but now they suck at 60k usd instead of 30k usd.

If I'm buying a car it would be a BYD, not some gas guzzler by an overpriced American manufacturer which are laughing stocks all over the world.

The monopoly game is almost over

maybe stop making everything an apartment on wheels with ipads everywhere. 🤷

Two problems, US income distribution is pathetic and shareholder power.

they are too stupid to realize that sucking money out of poor people is like crude oil. It will run out.

Consumers can't afford product or services. Labour value stealing business owners confused.

Gosh, if only Ford made kei trucks and sedans at a reasonable cost.

Instead, a lifted crew cab pickup with a 4 foot bed has become the new soccer mom van.

No lie, if I could afford a car right now, I’d want a cheap electric. Beyond that, I’d LOVE to EV convert my dad’s old truck.

Maybe don't produce only giant tanks that cost 60+k assholes.

Then maybe the auto industry should stop donating to Republicans.

The numbers don't lie. Republicans are bad for our economy. Bad economy means people don't buy the 1st or 2nd most expensive thing they'll ever buy (since many will never be homeowners).

Of course the auto industry would be worried that they're seeing the effects of a problem they caused.... /sarcasm

Weird. Something in the US is becoming unaffordable. That’s wild.

My 2014 Hyundai Sonata is about ready to bite the big one. I will not be getting another car for a while. The nearest bus stop to my apartment is just under a mile away, and my knees are shite. I'm looking at getting a motorized scooter to jet me up the sidewalkless stretch of road I live on to the bus stop, then commute in to work. I work for the city, so I have a free bus pass.

It's gonna suck for a while, but I don't have any better options.

Cars as a subscription, any day now.

I’ve been driving the same car for over 20 years and it was old before I bought it. If I ever replace it, it will be for something that doesn’t cost money to operate. I’m hoping Aptera pulls a win and changes the game for everyone.