If you go back a decade or so, you will remember that there were a load of cheap cars on offer. Here in Europe and in North America. In fact, I can remember in the mid-2000s many car manufacturers were desperate to make the “cheapest car in the world.”
Cars like the Chevrolet Aveo, the Tata Nano, the Perodua Nippa, etc. None of these econoboxes are cool and all of them are as safe as being locked in a lion cage, but nevertheless, it’s a cheap way of getting a new set of wheels. More than ten years on from this and there are not many properly cheap cars on the market anymore.
Now, this is a real shame. But things get even worse when you realize that most car manufacturers are now pricing their cars at stupid money. A Kia EV6 which is an electric crossover, that car costs $58,000 which is absurd for a Kia. I can remember when a new Kia cost under $10,000 and that’s not too long ago.
So what’s happened? Why are car manufacturers like Ford cutting down their model range massively so they only sell expensive SUVs and the Mustang?
Safety and Technology Have Gone Wild.
The nanny state has taken things to the next level. It’s very annoying indeed but it’s nothing new. Back in the day, many cars had sharp lines, pop-up headlights, etc. However, due to pedestrian safety, all of this has stopped. Cars are now curvy and soft so if you hit a pedestrian they don’t get hurt. So we’ve traded great looks for protecting people who can’t cross the road.
Well, the nanny state has massively affected car prices. Every few years the US and European car safety boards update what safety features cars need. Back in the day, these were simple things like seat belts, large black bumpers (USA), headrests, etc. However, nowadays things aren’t as simple or cheap.
In the next few years in Europe, new cars will need to be fitted with crash recorders, crash cameras, some auto-braking systems, etc. Honestly, the list is huge and in all honesty, it’s completely over-the-top. Think about just how expensive all of this technology and research is. Therefore, a car will all of a sudden be a lot more expensive to build and as a result a lot more expensive to buy.
But that’s not all. With the world of cars switching to electricity which isn’t cheap at all. Take an electric Ford F-150. That truck costs $40,000 which in all honesty isn’t that bad. But, a basic gas-powered F150 starts at just over $28,000. Yes, the Lightning comes with more kit as standard but if you just want a cheap pickup truck, you’ll have to be paying almost double in the future.
Every car nowadays it seems needs to be fitted with Android Auto or Apple Carplay. Don’t get me wrong, all of this is a good thing and so is the fact that every new car that is coming out is built so well. But the issue is that the cheap cars of back in the day aren’t really cheap anymore.
Cheap Cars Are Not Good Business.
In order for a car manufacturer to make money on cheap cars, they have to sell a lot of them. Unfortunately, not many people are buying cheap cars anymore. Now that does sound really stupid but it’s true. Ford’s previous cheapest car in America, the Fiesta has recently been pulled due to poor sales. In Europe, Ford’s previous cheapest car the Ka+ has been pulled due to guess what? Poor sales.
Back in the day, cheap cars made sense. The reason why is because leasing/financing a car was a lot harder. Hence why these cheap cars like the Geo Pryzm, Ford Ka, Chevrolet Spark, etc made sense. However, now in 2021, it’s so easy to finance or lease a good car.
Furthermore, a lot of these cheaper cars from back in the day were tiny little hatchbacks. Nowadays, people don’t want these. Annoyingly they want crossovers or SUVs despite the fact that most of them aren’t actually very practical. The cheapest crossover thing in the USA is the Hyundai Venue at $20,125. That isn’t in my opinion too cheap for a cheap car at all.
You can still buy a cheap car in the USA though. The Chevrolet Spark LS starts at just over $15,000 which is cheap. But it’s probably going to be axed from production soon as let’s face it, not many people buy the Spark at all. If it was going to become an electric-only car, then it would cost even more. If I was to take a wild guess, maybe $5000 more?
Many car companies in Europe have stopped making cheap small cars. Audi will stop building their cheapest car the A1 in a few years. Peugeot has stopped building their 108 and Vauxhall stopped the tiny Viva long ago. All of these cars (apart from the A1) are in all honesty pretty poor value and unsafe.
The Fiesta Ford is also not as popular as it once was (though it’s still very popular). In my opinion, Ford will end up turning the Fiesta into some sort of electric SUV, which is what they want to do to the popular iconic Focus hatchback. It will probably cost £10,000 more and be almost impossible to be outright for the normal person.
Customers Want More These Days.
Customers don’t want scratchy plastic and crappy stereo systems anymore. They want large screens, leather, all that premium stuff. However, all of that stuff isn’t cheap and that drives the price up. But customers do have the bucks to pay for all of that stuff.
Premium brands like BMW, Mercedes, and Audi have massively grown in the last twenty years as they’re far easier to attain these days. That means your bog-standard brands like Dodge, Ford, and Chevrolet have had to invest a lot of money in order to make something that actually feels more premium. All of this research isn’t cheap hence why cars aren’t cheap. Ok, I think you get the point now.
Safety is also a huge factor. Many cheap cars do not have good safety. Take the Chevrolet Spark for example. If you crash in that car then it can be bad news. however, if you crash say something like a Malibu which is safe then it might not be as bad. Just a thought, maybe people want a safer car nowadays because they care more about their safety.