Latest grab by auto manufactures

[MossRoad]

I account the auto GDP drop with 3 things: 1. the demise of the drive in theatre, 2. cost of parts and manufacturing causing profit margins to be significantly reduced and 3. the cost of college tuitions and $1400 phones.
The "phone" has taken the place of the "car" and college tuitions have made mommy and daddy broke.

I agree with the phones. Not so much the college tuition.

 

[ddbackhoe]

What are they killing? New car sales?

I don't see it.

View attachment 768733

The amount of GDP related to the auto industry?
That's been on the decline for 50 years.

View attachment 768735

The ones that have declared war on oil. Stretching from the farmers and truck drivers to store owners with empty shelves.

 

[California]

I account the auto GDP drop with 3 things: 1. the demise of the drive in theatre, 2. cost of parts and manufacturing causing profit margins to be significantly reduced and 3. the cost of college tuitions and $1400 phones.
The "phone" has taken the place of the "car" and college tuitions have made mommy and daddy broke.

No kidding. An expensive phone makes no sense at all. I don't understand the attraction.

I just went through this. My 2017 LG Stylus Plus has met all my needs until a week ago when an app (Kaiser Healthplan login) quit, required update, and my Android 7 wasn't acceptable for the app update. Ok, its finally time to jump to the modern era.

I researched and bought the cheapest highly recommended phone with stylus. Moto G Stylus 5G. I'm cheap, I bought the June 2021 version that comes with (latest) Android 12. $200 or less at Amazon, unlocked. I paid a little more at the T-mobile store to assure compatibility and to get their help moving/setting up my apps. I hope this runs flawless 5 years like the LG.

I'm not convinced paying an additional $1,200 - and more frequently - would get proportionally better quality or features. OIS zoom is the only phone feature I might consider paying more for but I have a nice pocketable camera with that.

 

[MossRoad]

The Curse of the Strong U.S. Economy

With GDP contracting in the first half of the year and a cratering stock market, it may seem surprising to describe the U.S. economy as “strong.” While the haze of macroeconomic data is exceptionally contradictory, the current reality is that highly profitable firms are employing a record number...

hbr.org

 

[lman]

The Curse of the Strong U.S. Economy

With GDP contracting in the first half of the year and a cratering stock market, it may seem surprising to describe the U.S. economy as “strong.” While the haze of macroeconomic data is exceptionally contradictory, the current reality is that highly profitable firms are employing a record number...

hbr.org

What does that have to do with auto manufacturers or this thread? Maybe I missed something.

 

[von-mil]

deleted

 

[IndyJay]

What has changed is Who is Selling What, to Who. (Probably should have a Whom in that sentence; HS English was long ago....).

Print newspapers didn't monitor: What you read, How long you looked at it, What you looked at Next, What articles you went back to, What further use you made of the physical paper etc..... If they had, they would have tried to extract more money from Pet Supply advertisers, once they knew how many readers used the old paper to line bird cages.....

That is why all these OEMs want apps on your cell phones, instead of providing low-cost dedicated electronic fobs for you when you buy a new $50k+ vehicle...... they make stupid amounts of money, selling all the data they collect. One young guy I knew that was studying Automotive Marketing went to a major conference - a presenter broke down examples of what the data was worth - your Facebook et al information was worth much more to them than the sale of a typical physical vehicle.

So Yes, the visible Subscription $ noted in this thread re. keeping the vehicle operating As Delivered New are annoying to most people, but IMO, they are just the tip of the consumer-exploitation iceberg.

It's not hard to argue that we are becoming less of a pure Consumer, and more of a Data Set commodity.....

Rgds, D.

Dave is correct. Also read the terms of use and what permissions you are giving the app. It is amazing how much access they have to your phone that is totally unrelated to what the apps is supposedly doing.

 

[arrow]

I agree with the phones. Not so much the college tuition.

C'mon Moss
My last year at college cost me $2200 and then I had a $1000 Pell Grant to reduce that further.
That figure is now $60,000 and everyone is not a Trout or LeBron or a Woods to garner full rides.
Sending my 3 girls to college who were all just 3 years apart was a struggle and they attended state colleges and only one lived at home.
I had little in discretionary funds and worked 3 jobs.

 

[Williy]

IMHO I think who ever wrote that article don't
have their facts correct. Our income hasn't
gone up but the cost of everything has so that
means our income has gone down as it takes
more money to purchase the same items

willy

 

[MossRoad]

C'mon Moss
My last year at college cost me $2200 and then I had a $1000 Pell Grant to reduce that further.
That figure is now $60,000 and everyone is not a Trout or LeBron or a Woods to garner full rides.
Sending my 3 girls to college who were all just 3 years apart was a struggle and they attended state colleges and only one lived at home.
I had little in discretionary funds and worked 3 jobs.

Tuition at local community colleges or branches of state colleges are still very affordable.

We started saving in a 529 for our kids when they were born in 92 and 95. $25 every 2 weeks. By the time they hit college, they had 2 years of tuition saved in the 529. They got merit scholarships for 4 years that covered 1/2 tuition. Right there covered all tuition at Purdue for 4 years. So then they had to cover room and board. We gave them each the same amount per year that we paid for their Catholic school, since we were used to that amount. That covered 1/2 of the room and board. They both worked during college and covered the other 1/2 of room and board. Both got out of Purdue debt free. We could have done the same thing for any of the other state colleges in Indiana.

Oldest one went to grad school. Got her masters. Got a job and paid off all but $900 of the $34K she got loans for. She got $10K per year in scholarships from the school.

Wife and I have always made average wages, so we know it can be done on average wages.

I will say we are fortunate to have been able to do what we've done, and not everybody can do that, and not everyone should go to that type of college. I'm the only one in my family that DIDN'T go to 4 year university. I went to vocational/technical college and got two associate degrees in electronics. My wife went to accounting school and got an associate degree. That's what suite us best.

But college is still affordable and you can find a way to pay for it even in this day and age.