[Sylvanfan]

I wonder how much long term trouble Automobile manufacturers are in for. Even if they do get the electric vehicle right the first go.

Volkswagen and Nissan both announced major layoffs in the past two weeks. Stellantis is also in a real bind too. Ford's EV program will kill them if they don't figure it out.

Demographically the world is aging fast so there's less people who need to consume. Plus negative birth rates in the developed world that will eventually impact what people do want. Interest rates are still considerable higher than what they were while prices remain high, and I don't think rates will come back down to those low levels without it being some type of subsidy either in the form of the company trying to off unreliable inventory and taking a loss or governments bailing them out.

In a way you could argue that vehicles were kept pretty cheap for a lot of years. I think a 97 VW GTI that I stupidly bought cost just over 21k...payment was like 400 a month for 48 months with a murderous rate of 7.9% with my trade and down-payment being like $5400. It had a 115hp 2.0 litre engine, a 5 speed and no AC. It was pretty bare bones. Compare to an Accord bought 23 years later for 37500...not even close for how superior the new one appears to be. But how many people were conditioned by the cheap credit days from around 2002 to 2022?

Of course in 2002...you could get into a new house for a monthly mortgage payment similar to a payment on say a nicer truck. So with other costs for people ballooning it's taken away discretionary spending.