End of the Line

Why Is An Average New Car So Expensive?


Listen Later

According to Kelly Blue Book, the average price of a new non-luxury car in the U.S. at the end of 2022 was about $45,000. In 1926, a typical manufacturing worker earned about $1,500 annually and could buy a Ford Model T for about $500.  

 Today, the average annual income of that manufacturing worker is $31,000, so an equivalent car today should cost around $12,000. But today’s vehicles are roughly three to four times more expensive than cars from the beginning of the mass production era, adjusted for inflation. So where is the $10,000 car? Jim Anderton comments. 

Want to watch this podcast as a video? End of the Line is available on engineering.com TV along with all of our other shows such as This Week in Engineering, Designing the Future, and, Manufacturing the Future.

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

End of the LineBy Engineering.com