Cars sales increase again. How reassuring…
“Cars Led Increase in August Retail Sales” Click here to read the New York Times article.
I’ve been reading similar articles in the different newspapers, from different countries and what can I say? I’m happy for car dealers, but honestly, we’ve had this “cash for clunkers” politics a few years ago in Italy and I think the downsides are quite a few.
For a start, I noticed quite a few -should I say incapable- elders driving brand new cars. No offense, but this is somewhat scary, not to mention dangerous. I often wondered how so many visibly impaired elders, with cane or huge glasses or hearing aids and so on, could have their driving license renewed without any problem.
But hey, grampa needs a new car. Otherwise the economy sinks.
Another interesting point, have you ever noticed that old cars seem to last longer than the new ones? Think about it. A car from the late 80s / early 90s can still work just fine now, in 2009, given a little maintenance, of course. But if you bought a car in the late 90s, early 00s (?), I bet you had at least one or two little problems. Mostly electronic problems, as the engine might be good.
The thing is, not only economy needs some help and people buying, but the older cars pollute more. Very true. Still, most articles tend to skip this aspect and talk about economy only and how bad it’s been going on for years, and how little people buy. Well, people are now so packed with electronic equipment and kitchen appliances that they don’t really need to change them every 2 years. So the smart trick is: build stuff that can’t last longer than 3 or 4 years. This applies to cars, dishwashers, washing machines, mixers, hairdryers, refrigerators, computers… anything really.
Let’s be realistic. I can understand buying a new computer because of some upgrade or better hardware or whatever. But honestly, I’m a little annoyed when I have to change my washing machine because for some reason, even if I follow all of the instructions and recommendations by the book, the damn machine stops working after 3 years. And I had bought the latest model, with certifications of all kind, stating it’s safe and eco-friendly and low energy consuming and blah blah blah.
My parents had a dishwasher in their kitchen, bought in 1980. The thing worked perfectly for 17 years. When it -finally- broke, we couldn’t find the repair, the piece wasn’t available anymore, of course. But hey, 17 years of honorable work. On the other side, the 2 years old dishwasher in the house my brother moved in in 2006 -the previous owner never really lived in the house, so the dishwasher was new- died 1 and 1/2 year after we used it. Nice…
My point is, should we be happy that cars sales are increasing again? Economy is resurrecting? The world crisis is over? At what costs for us, the consumers? Why don’t they tell us that eco-friendly/low emission busses sales are increasing? Because no one gives a damn. I’m sure the same companies that have been focusing energies and tons of money on cars, could focus the same energy and money on eco-friendly transportation. And they would probably make money too, anyway. But telling people they need a new -and supposedly, hopefully eco-friendly- car is way easier and faster.
Banks crash, people get fired, world crisis haunts… But this can last maybe 6 months. Then we are all back to before the big crash that should have changed the world economy.
Old habits die hard…
