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I'm not going to buy the eBook to read the rest of the story, but I will say I disagree with many points in that article. First, there are still low payment lease deals and 0% interest payments on a regular basis. Honda always has a 0% or 1.9% sale each year, and I see lease payments on new cars from almost every manufacturer for $199 or less on their "volume" cars. Second, there has actually been a movement from auto makers into microcars and very cheap compact cars, such as the Mirage, Fiat 500, etc. There are tons of great quality choices for under $15k brand new. So maybe they are trying to target the rich, but they are also expanding the low end of their lineup to cater to fresh college grads and young adults who they want to buy new cars rather than used.
The author also failed to mention (besides saying that cars were the best quality ever) that cars have become much more reliable in recent decades. A couple decades ago 200k miles was reserved for Japanese imports. Now it seems like with basic maintenance any car can last 150k+ miles. The warranties are longer than ever as well. It's also a fact that the average age of car on the road is at it's oldest ever. So I was surprised the author didn't mention that as a cause of why people are not buying new cars.
I haven't bought a new car because I hate monthly payments. The Civic is at the point where I've put 2 times the money into it as it's worth, but even with that I've spent less than $6k on it (not counting gas/insurance) and it's put up with me for 100k miles. Most new car buyers buy a new car and never put 50k miles on it before they trade it in for another new car. Not only are they hit with taxes and depreciation, they are paying interest for a loan in most cases. I'll drive the Civic until it rusts away, or until I cannot buy parts for it anymore.
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