How's that Mitt-Romney-for-President Thing working out for you?
Are new cars "increasingly" our of reach for many Americans? Well,
we're in the middle of a depression, and over 46M people are below the
poverty line. I'll assume none of them can afford a new car, so that
qualifies as "many." And a record number of people live in poverty, so
I suppose that qualifies as "increasing."
But when you look at this report, you'll see how vacuous it is. First
of all, the car that people can't afford is the "average" car, one that
costs over $30K. But people don't buy an abstract "average" car; they
buy a real car. Secondly, it's people at the median income who are said
not to be able to afford this mythical car. The median is the point
where half the people have incomes above and half below. Presumably the
half above the median income can afford a new car just fine.
The median income has actually fallen and is running at 1996 levels, so
back in 1996 how many people at median income couldn't afford the
"average" new car? Without a comparison, the claim is unfounded.