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Why Is An Average New Car So Expensive?
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.
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By Engineering.comAccording 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.