Allegory is:
I drive a 2007 Corolla. My other poor friends often comment that the car is exactly what they need. If a company like Toyota returned to making 07 Corollas, would they be cheaper to produce now than before?
Real, economic, question is:
I suppose that Japanese car companies create increasingly luxurious cars in error, and that a truly reliable budget vehicle would be successful. Is this wrong? Why have Honda and Toyota instead chosen to create unaffordable vehicles?
If a different company with different economic pressures successfully produced an "07 Corolla" (in terms of budget reliability), would it succeed in today's market?
What if Toyota made more 07 Corollas?
byu/fl4737615 inAskEconomics
Posted by fl4737615
1 Comment
The short answer is, no, they would not be cheaper to produce.
In fact, a new 2007 Corolla adjusted for inflation was $26,000, which is slightly more expensive than a base model Corolla you can purchase today at $24,000.
You can get a Hyundai or Nissan a bit cheaper, but in the U.S. the best selling vehicles are trucks and SUVs, meaning there isn’t enough market pressure to invest in compact cars, despite the perceived demand for them.