Chevrolet Corvette Stingray C7 Forum - View Single Post - why are cars so much more expensive these days?

kiteman · 10-04-2011, 10:53 AM

i was just pondering about my $37,000 car on order and am really curious why cars are so expensive these days. i'm 28 years old so this may not be news to anyone older than me, but doesn't it seem like cars have increased in price well over inflation levels in the last 10 years or so? just for reference the original MSRP was about $22,000 on my 2000 Z28. the base 2012 SS is about $32,000. that's a 45% increase!

so i tried to dissect the numbers. for starters inflation is about 2%, so for 11 years let's just say that's in the neighborhood of a 25% increase in price in the US. so that leaves the 20% increase in price up for debate.

i guess the logical response would be that the remaining 20% increase in the camaro's prices would be the upgrades, since the 5th gen is mounds more advanced than the 4th gen (bluetooth, rearview camera, HUD, to name a few).

but at the same time....aren't car prices always relative to the prices of other similar cars regardless of features? in other words, every new car today has bluetooth, USB, rearview cameras, etc. just about. so are cars really more expensive today because they are more expensive to produce (by 20%) or is it just that the market in general has increased their pricing?

maybe it is very logical explanation, but i thought it might present an interesting discussion nonetheless.

10-04-2011, 10:53 AM	#1
kiteman Drives: 2012 45th Camaro, 2SS/M6 Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: At my computer Posts: 1,327	why are cars so much more expensive these days? i was just pondering about my $37,000 car on order and am really curious why cars are so expensive these days. i'm 28 years old so this may not be news to anyone older than me, but doesn't it seem like cars have increased in price well over inflation levels in the last 10 years or so? just for reference the original MSRP was about $22,000 on my 2000 Z28. the base 2012 SS is about $32,000. that's a 45% increase! so i tried to dissect the numbers. for starters inflation is about 2%, so for 11 years let's just say that's in the neighborhood of a 25% increase in price in the US. so that leaves the 20% increase in price up for debate. i guess the logical response would be that the remaining 20% increase in the camaro's prices would be the upgrades, since the 5th gen is mounds more advanced than the 4th gen (bluetooth, rearview camera, HUD, to name a few). but at the same time....aren't car prices always relative to the prices of other similar cars regardless of features? in other words, every new car today has bluetooth, USB, rearview cameras, etc. just about. so are cars really more expensive today because they are more expensive to produce (by 20%) or is it just that the market in general has increased their pricing? maybe it is very logical explanation, but i thought it might present an interesting discussion nonetheless.