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But that era is over and the industry has reverted to its prepandemic state, with too many carmakers chasing too few buyers.

That’s their own damn fault. They all got this idea that every car brand could be a luxury brand. They left behind consumers. They cut their affordable models and have left the sedan and even now many compact segment vehicles in the dust. Consumers should now leave them behind in turn. The future can’t possibly be luxury SUVs, pickups, and sports cars for everyone.

Corporate executives couldn’t see past the next quarter. And now, I won’t be surprised if governments force their losses to be socialized. Stellantis executive quit recently after seeing the writing on the wall. Make the money, let it crash and burn. That was always the plan.

Fuck em and the SUV they came in. Eat shit.

Perhaps companies should have “rainy day” funds in case of a downturn like they tell average citizens.

🤔

An interesting thing I found out from this article is that the drop in demand is due to non-Chinese companies not being able to compete in the Chinese market. The incoming tariff war will only make this worse. Donald Trump may be thinking he is putting American Manufacturing first, but in reality he is cutting off American companies from the largest market in the world.

well there's a simple solution to that: make cars that people want to buy.

I was in the market for a car recently. I wanted a small city car. All the big players have now is crossovers and suvs.

So that's why I got a chinese made vehicle. It was what I wanted, and it exists. The reason I didn't buy something european is because none of them make anything I'd want to buy anymore. Maybe the fiat 500, but that's a bit too pricey, imo.

Good, let's not bail them out again. Let the market decide.

"Thrived"?

Somebody wasn't working in the industry during the pandemic I guess...

Parts shortages driven by the one-two punch of the pandemic + the invasion of Ukraine led to a massive inventory of cars that could not be sold because manufacturing wasn't complete:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ford-motor-losses-chip-shortage-rivian/

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/ukraine-invasion-hurts-flow-wire-harnesses-carmakers-2022-03-02/

Then, the used car market exploded because people were unable to complete lease returns as there weren't new cars to trade in for.

https://www.carscoops.com/2024/07/dealers-brace-for-the-next-pandemic-related-supply-issue-fewer-lease-returns/

So, no, the automotive industry was not "thriving" during the pandemic.

There is no reason they should have thrived during the pandemic, they should have been taking a hit just like the customers. If they were taking increased profits, then it's because they were screwing over customers during a challenging time.

Any auto maker that focuses on practical/efficient/affordable will benefit in the long run, and the fact that another country is more focused on that, makes the real threat of competition.

Automakers enjoyed huge profit margins with the shortages since they could charge much more for fewer vehicles. Now that supply is back up, there is nothing justifying these ridiculous prices and they're crying. Too bad. Also funny how they had the government shut out Chinese competition in domestic markets but they're still losing in the China market even though there aren't 100% tariffs on their vehicles there.

Prices on new vehicles are totally fucking outrageous. So sorry the $10K markup is no longer sustainable.