Comments by "Yo2" (@yo2trader539) on "Why Are New Cars Getting SO Expensive in 2024? What Can We Do About it?" video.

  1. And automakers get trashed by reviewers for having "cheap" interiors and outdated tech.
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  2. US$50,000 in 2024 is equivalent to US$41,000 in 2019, or US$37,700 in 2014. Inflation bites. Interestingly, Toyota lost money in North America in FY2022, despite having strong sales. And Toyota's operating profit margin for North America was still 3%, compared to 12% world-wide in FY2023. You can interpret this as: (1) American dealerships, which are independently-owned by Americans, are charging too much; (2) Toyota's car prices sold to American dealers is not keeping up with inflation; or (3) Toyota has too many employees in North America. Perhaps it makes more financial sense to manufacture in Japan. However, Toyota's domestic manufacturing capability is capped at around 15,000 vehicles per day (or 3 million vehicles annually). And they've been running at full capacity for a while, which is why some customers are forced to wait months for their delivery, especially on Hybrids. All the fancy infotainment, software development, ever-increasing amount of sensors, semiconductors, and electronics is not cheap. High labor cost, material/component cost, shipping cost, utility bills, and expensive R&D on BEVs are all contributing to cost of vehicles, regardless of manufacturer.
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