Or has income inequality progressed so much that an additional $8 grand is just a nuisance fee?
I for one wouldn’t miss behemoth vehicles on the road.
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Deflation
The suppliers, manufacture, and assembly can be done more efficiently. With layoffs throughout the economy demand for higher priced goods will fall. China facing tariffs on the whole sale side will also become more efficient.
Not all vehicles will be available if their pricing can not fall. Demand will be off.
Every time I see one I ask: "Where do just plain, work-a-day folks, and normal people get the money to buy a rig like that AND afford a place to live AND groceries, etc etc. Jobs must pay a lot more than I seem to think they do.
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They take loans and all they care about is “what’s the monthly payment?” Eventually they might get overextended, and the slightest hiccup in their life can destroy them financially. So they have that $1000 a month auto loan plus another $150 a month insurance plus another $200 a month for gasoline. And they pay it every single month, and make it to the next month.
But then suddenly they have a medical issue that costs them $3200 and they can’t come up with the money. If they declare bankruptcy then all the media will say “it was an unexpected medical bill that bankrupted them”. Sure, it was the $3200 medical bill, and not the $16,200 they were spending on a vehicle each year that bankrupted them.
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I ask how USAian male sexual insecurity (what else, maybe economic/status?) became so fixated on truck size as a salve. But then I am a gay guy and I have an odd perspective on the issue.
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You do not have to be gay to come to that conclusion. Anyone with some European travel experience to see family would say the same thing. Nuttso on the credit card.
adding
Oh yeah that makes me an intellectual. I mentioned the Euro perspective. Bhadddd
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Women too. I heard it constantly around the office “I feel safe in my big SUV”. “I like to sit up high”.
Of course, the automakers promote those narratives, because they take more money off of people by convincing them they 'need" a $60,000 SUV that is lucky to show 25mpg under the best conditions. Then, those same coworkers, who insist on buying something like an Explorer, then use the remote start to run the thing in the parking lot for 10-15 minutes, before they leave the office, cry a river about how much they pay for gas.
Steve
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The first issue is extremely real and is best described as a civilian arms race with the automobile manufacturers as the arms dealers rooting for war: big cars protect their drivers and passengers and wreak havoc on sensible people in otherwise sensible cars.
The second issue is straight forward status seeking in its most ancient form — apes in a tree. The view can be nice, but mostly it is not the view but looking down on the peons down there….
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In a school text book, years ago, there was an illustration of a carriage from the era of Imperial Rome. The caption noted how tall the carriage was, and said the intent was to lift the occupant above the horde of Proles, and show everyone how important he was. I think about that illustration, every time I see a huge SUV.
Steve
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The large cars in the USA and the smaller cars in Europe have little to do with each other. The fact is that the larger the car, and the larger the engine, in Europe, the larger the taxes are. In Italy, for example, engines over 2 liters are taxed much more heavily than smaller engines … so they made most engines 2 liter and then added turbochargers for more power LOL.
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Guess again for the cost of insurance. I am thinking AT LEAST $300-$400 a month.
I agree with your point however.
Cheers,
MS
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The four stages of car ownership
- Coming of Age
- Status Symbol
- Sex Appeal
- Transportation
The Captain
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Maybe I’m atypical, but I skipped the first three. Maybe there are a few others in my boat?
Pete
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Good for you! 
When I drove the black Corvette Stingray a kid pointed and excitedly said to his mom: “The Batmobile!” 
The Captain
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You could sum up the two center lines to “ego”.
If you want to draw attention to what you drive it doesn’t have to be new. I drive a 2003 F250. It’s in great shape. Sits in the garage a lot. My mechanic wants to buy it and I often get comments about it when I fill it up at the gas station.
I do use it though. Here’s a picture of it loaded with firewood.
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The primary goal of the tariffs is to damage US automakers who rely heavily on parts and assembly from Mexico and Canada. There will also be knock on effects of the aluminum tariffs which are designed to damage US aerospace and appliance manufacturers.
Japanese, Korean, and European manufacturers are not subject to the tariffs and will be able to flood the US market with cheaper products.
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Just wondering…how many truck loads of firewood to you haul every year?
How much would it cost to have it delivered?
FYI, a few decades ago (when they still made them) I had a cheap Toyota pickup. I hauled dozens of loads of rocks, dirt, lumber when buildings stuff for my first house. Also got a camper shell and build a nice low bed and cabinets for camping. Then sold ~8 yrs later to a friend who still has it.
Once or twice a year I ~wish I had it, but borrow a big one from friends and a take them to lunch.
Mike
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We cut 6 to 8 loads a year. The bed is 8’ so if I load it high, I can get a rick of wood on the truck. Most of the time we don’t load it that high. This place is about 5 miles from our house so maxing out the load isn’t really necessary. Also, that particular road is not maintained by the county. Not a rock one on it. The roadbed is soft so I try to minimize the loaded weight. If we have any rain/snow every kid with a 4 wheel drive truck/jeep takes this road. The ruts they leave are deep.
They are advertising unseasoned hedge for $120 a rick. That is what we are cutting in the picture. A lot of the farmers here are having the hedge rows removed from their fields. They were planted back in the 1930’s to stop soil erosion. Most farmers have gone to no till farming so soil erosion isn’t a problem
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