The $25k car is going extinct?

Just because they are not heavily advertised, doesnt mean they don't exist.

Dacia Sandero/Duster/Spring exist. (Renault)

Citroen C1, Toyota Aygo, Peugeot 108, (VW up!.)

Considering Volkswagen Group:

With a choice of Skoda Fabia/Seat Ibiza/VW Polo you would go for Skoda or Seat, not the VW brand itself if you dont care about marque but price.

But prestige is a huge factor still, so people would still go for an overpriced Golf for no apparent other reason

Also 20k-equivalent from 2015-2019 is already above 25k just by inflation. Car manufactures have strong unions so that stuff comes around fast.

So you simply can't expect the old sub 20k cars anymore, that's 25k now.

> so 20k-equivalent from 2015-2019 is already above 25k just by inflation.

Its not inflation alone ... The same brand/car type, tends to have seen a 75% price increase over the mentioned periode.

Something that used to cost 20k euro in the 2015 periode, is now around 35k euro. That is not "inflation". An we are talking same trim, same electronics, same gasoline engines.

Cars beyond a few items (as long as we do not talk about jump from gas to electric) have really not changed that much. There was a big jump from the 90's to the 2000, in terms of electronics (and sensors that are the bane for most car mechanics).

Prices have gone up so much, that it resulted in my 15 year old second hand car, being sold now for more, then when i bought it (and that inc the increased km's driven and age). That is not a normal market and is not explained by simple "inflation".

Its part inflation, a large part greed, and do not forget the consolidation / lack of competition over the year. People overlook how many car brands are now part of the same group. This resulted in less competition because multiple "brands" increased prices over the same period, when its really the same company, using parts in between each other, and your mostly paying for a different shell and "brand name / past reputation".

That is why Chinese car makers are able to enter the EU market so easily, despite the market protection with import taxations.

If you can offer a true hybrid with all the trims like solar roof, full electronics, the works at 36k, and the next EU competitor for the same options is 48k (and a less efficient hybrid aka, electronic boost only)... And that included the import taxation.

Its ironic that we need to do market protection because our own brands got caught sleeping at the wheel.

Here in the UK, the price of the base-spec Dacia Sandero (and comparable cars like the Kia Picanto and Hyundai i10) has more than doubled in six years. The C1, 108 and Up! have been discontinued, as have a raft of other cheap small cars.

That's partly explained by inflation, but also by the massive amounts of extra safety equipment mandated by the General Safety Regulation. The bill of materials for cheap cars has increased by thousands of euros, because they're legally required to have cameras and radar.

https://www.europarl.europa.eu/meetdocs/2014_2019/plmrep/COM...

A Dacia Spring is still around £11k at the cheapest dealers, Sandero about £16k, and a Renault Clio about £17k, Kia Picanto £15k. All for bottom end variants with no extras, but gets you there.

It's not just prestige. Who wants a 65 HP engine? I need my 110 HP to get away from bad situations. And like the article said. The cheaper cars are more expensive than before and the more luxury ones are still expensive obviously but not much more than they used to be.

Cars are a large enough part of the budget that they might just drive a significant part of inflation by themselves.

Are we sure that inflation numbers have not been underreported ?