"Essentials" On Cars

"When we get used to things they seem to become essential."

Air conditioning is the biggest corporate scam of the last fifty years. When I was a kid, we just loved getting into the car on a nice hot August day.

Note to John Dewey:

If by stagnation, one means that things remain the same, then that would be a preferable situation to prices going up and up. Nothing more than that.

The auto makers spend a lot of money making things essential.

Plus, since most of the units on the lot have the options packages anyway, it is tough to find a "plain jane" vehicle.

When we get used to things they seem to become essential.

David Graf: "Hmmm...stagnation might be a desirable alternative compared to the way gas prices and energy costs and the cost of food are taking an increasing large bite out of our wallets."

So how would stagnation - as opposed to profit-seeking research and innovation - solve the problem of scarcity?

And, save_the_rustbelt, you're right. Everyone knows that it's from the halls of U of M that the state of the economy can only properly be judged.

Plus, you missed the point of the chart. These are things BUYERS consider essential, not manufacturers. And I have the perfect counterpoint in my driveway; Cost me $3200, no leather, no heated seats, and the crappiest cup holder known to man (but I consider A/C essential, so I splurged). You can always find what you're looking for in this market, it's just that most people are looking for more than what they can get for $3k, so they get a loan -- their call.

save_the_rustbelt;

How is that relevant to this chart?

Perry is amusing.

He sits in Flint and writes about how swell the economy is doing. :))

Too bad he didn't have the chops to get a job at the real UM campus. Maybe he should have picked a better grad program. :)))

His analysis of the auto market may have missed that 5 and 6 year new car loans are common, and that it is very difficult to find a new car that does not have most of the options (a manufacturing issue as much as a marketing issue).

Cup Holders = 75.2%, Leather Seats = 39.3%

:?

Americans want their standard of living to increase astronomically every single year, or they will blame any Republican around. That's just how it works.

Hmmm...stagnation might be a desirable alternative compared to the way gas prices and energy costs and the cost of food are taking an increasing large bite out of our wallets.

I agree with the 4.2% of Americans who don't want an AM/FM/CD player in their car. The last new car I bought, I fell for the premium sound system scam and I'd feel guilty 7 years later plucking the Mach sound system out of my Mustang GT and replace it with a nice Alpine system that accepts flash drives and iPods. Never again!