Honestly, I don't think our auto industry is the result of soft collusion at all. I think it's 95% due to market forces (and 5% regulation that basically gives companies a break for producing what the market wants).
The car market naturally bifurcated itself such that wealthier individuals buy new cars, that they trade in on a frequent timeline, and are sold used to lower income buyers.
The reason I believe this is because there have been tons of great, small, cheap cars sold in the US, and they have never succeeded. The quintessential example would be the Honda Fit or Scion xB. Both were very cheap cars, with a relatively large, usable interior, and rock solid reliability. None of these cars lasted in the USA for more than two generations. And the second gen xB is basically a totally different car from the first gen.
For better or worse, the majority of low cost car buyers believe in, "Why buy a new <cheap car> when you could get a five year old <nice car> for the same price?" I honestly thinks that the majority of buyers have been brainwashed to think that used cars are always a better deal, because it's not uncommon for lightly used cars to cost more after two years than they did new. That really only makes sense if used car shoppers aren't even bothering to price new cars.
Another point of reference: the best selling vehicles in the USA are all full sized pickup trucks. In their financial statements, Ford reports the number of F150s sold for >$50k.
> None of these cars lasted in the USA for more than two generations. And the second gen xB is basically a totally different car from the first gen.
The 2nd gen xB had none of the charm of the first generation, and then it wasn't updated for ages, then it vanished.
Then Kia came along with the Soul and basically proved the market for a box car was still there, it just had to be a good value.
IMHO Kia has gone down the same road with the Soul that Toyota did with the xB, the new souls are larger and more expensive, and they don't have as much personality.
The car market naturally bifurcated itself such that wealthier individuals buy new cars, that they trade in on a frequent timeline, and are sold used to lower income buyers.
The reason I believe this is because there have been tons of great, small, cheap cars sold in the US, and they have never succeeded. The quintessential example would be the Honda Fit or Scion xB. Both were very cheap cars, with a relatively large, usable interior, and rock solid reliability. None of these cars lasted in the USA for more than two generations. And the second gen xB is basically a totally different car from the first gen.
For better or worse, the majority of low cost car buyers believe in, "Why buy a new <cheap car> when you could get a five year old <nice car> for the same price?" I honestly thinks that the majority of buyers have been brainwashed to think that used cars are always a better deal, because it's not uncommon for lightly used cars to cost more after two years than they did new. That really only makes sense if used car shoppers aren't even bothering to price new cars.
Another point of reference: the best selling vehicles in the USA are all full sized pickup trucks. In their financial statements, Ford reports the number of F150s sold for >$50k.