Quote:
Originally Posted by JSH
It isn't surprising. The sedan's death is a combination of fashion as redpoint said, demographics - the country is aging and most old people don't want to stoop down into low vehicles, and regulations - new side impact tests have a higher barrier that hits cars along to bottom of the greenhouse.
The death of cheap vehicles is a sign of the times as well. The auto industry is going through the biggest change since the 70's with the current shift to electric vehicles. In the US alone companies have committed to a bit over $100 billion in capital spending for new battery and EV assembly plants. Unprofitable and low profit cars and trims are on the chopping block because of opportunity cost. Automakers must maximum profit from every assembly line to pay for the billions they have to spend to completely redesign and retool their business.
It isn't just the bottom end that is dying. Mercedes recently announced they are killing off most of their coupes and convertibles. They are dropping from 33 models to 14.
And when I say automakers need to maximize profit it is important to know that making cars is a very capital intensive business with low profit margins. The UAW likes to talk about huge profits but the profits aren't huge. GM made $9 billion last year - true. Sounds huge until you realize that is only a 6% net profit margin and guaranteed savings bonds paid more last year.
GM stock owners LOST 42% on their investment last year which erased the 41% they made in 2021. The business of business is making money - it is that simple. Automakers used to pay out dividends to make up for the flat stock price but those are mostly gone.
|
Even a lot of sedans and coupes are becoming SUV's. The Toyota Corolla Cross, the Mustang Mach-e.
Things are changing. I don't like everything that's changing, but it's not the end of the world.
I will always have fond memories of my little cars: The 1972 VW Super Beetle, the 1985 VW Golf and the 1993 Mazda 323. Just don't tell me I have to like my practical, but mother-ship-like, Toyota Avalon.
Although, admittedly nostalgia can make one forget the disadvantages that one had suffered from their old choices. Adjusting the valves on my first car, the 1951 Plymouth Cranbrook, was quite a pain. But at least I can brag that I learned to drive in a car with a three on the tree.
My question is how do I go about facing the future with more optimism? I've always had weird likings. EV's were cool to me back when it was a DIY community and the talk was about what chemistries and what types of motors and inverters were best for what situations. Sitting down and configuring what batteries and what motor and adapters and inverter to get, figuring out what kind of acceleration, and crunching the numbers to get a rough estimate of range, was great fun back in the day. Not that I was ever serious about doing a DIY EV conversion.
But now, although the way Tesla uses a motor that uses both permanent magnets as well as sychronous reluctance is quite interesting, it's like they gloss over all that with "EV, it does 0-60mph in [this many] seconds." That, and every Tesla is basically the same as every other Tesla.
Hopefully with more EV's on the horizon there will be more diversity and contrast between options that make things more interesting. Or I just need to figure out something else that makes car ownership more than just a chore. Or just accept that cars are tools, buy whatever is the most practical, this isn't an amusement park.