Read on Twitter
American car culture was collectivism not tied to government and so they killed it after 2007 depression with Cash4Clunkers, a mini thread...
U see the stereotype was hurr sure Americans buy new car every three years such materialists, but fact is American cars had massive life... They just spent that life over many households.
Rich status seeking ppl buy new, drove for a year then picked up by middle class at deep discount, worked way through population VERY efficient use of a product tbh. Always providing working class with healthy selection of used but fine vehicles.
It worked. And also...
It worked. And also...
It creates car dealer lots that every town had as a place to center capital on a defacto town aristocrat, who would then sponsor town little league or school busses or park.
It was a great fucking system. American made cars built in Pontiac or Columbus or Indianapolis or Buffalo or Birmingham, tricked through population so always steady flow of business, creating local pools of capital to spend on local amenities
They DESTROYED it. Purposefully and with deliberate forethought. In one fell swoop they destroyed the entire national stock of used vehicles, utterly obliterating the system.
And then lol coincidence prices on new cars rose, leading to longer loan periods as more $$ needed
And then lol coincidence prices on new cars rose, leading to longer loan periods as more $$ needed
This destroyed the lots of many smaller towns and out of way places, as these dealers relied heavily on the "gently used" second hand car market.
Which led to more people being far from lots, leading to either single centralized locations in big places, or trying to get by without a dealership at all, which placed further stress on the remaining guys not part of the big machine.
So now the whole thing is fucked. No more local big fish who gets to be town honcho in exchange for largesse, people stuck in larger loans for new cars they don't necessarily prefer bought from centralized mega urbanites.
But at least it's not muh "every three years" anymore!
But at least it's not muh "every three years" anymore!
