In Europe there have always been a good selection of affordable, entry-level vehicles, but recently these affordable choices have largely vanished. Toyota Corolla, the best-selling car in the world, is about 100% more expensive than pre-covid. Toyota Yaris, originally a small, city car, has gotten bigger, and more expensive. Basically, small, city car options are disappearing. Short-term, this is beneficial for car makers, because they sell more expensive options with larger margins, but it creates a large gap to fill. Chinese manufacturers make a multitude of models at very competitive prices and currently only taxes are keeping these models from dominating the markets. Long term, automakers must return to making affordable cars with smaller margins to survive.
In Europe there have always been a good selection of affordable, entry-level vehicles, but recently these affordable choices have largely vanished. Toyota Corolla, the best-selling car in the world, is about 100% more expensive than pre-covid. Toyota Yaris, originally a small, city car, has gotten bigger, and more expensive. Basically, small, city car options are disappearing. Short-term, this is beneficial for car makers, because they sell more expensive options with larger margins, but it creates a large gap to fill. Chinese manufacturers make a multitude of models at very competitive prices and currently only taxes are keeping these models from dominating the markets. Long term, automakers must return to making affordable cars with smaller margins to survive.
Summary link: https://finance.yahoo.com/sectors/technology/articles/unless...
Sounds like an MBA: who'll notice, cut quality, avoid discarding supplier parts, ... Nothing about pricing, EV, ...