The Structural Limits of Automotive Affordability: A Global Failure Analysis – Part 4: The Regulatory Price Floor and the Trust Crisis in Modern Mobility
The Structural Limits of Automotive Affordability: A Global Failure Analysis 1 The Structural Limits of Automotive Affordability: A Global Failure Analysis – Part 1: The Fatal Paradox of the $2,000 Car 2 The Structural Limits of Automotive Affordability: A Global Failure Analysis – Part 2: When Engineering Compromise Becomes a Safety Penalty 3 The Structural Limits of Automotive Affordability: A Global Failure Analysis – Part 3: The Economic Retreat and the Marginalization of the Low End 4 The Structural Limits of Automotive Affordability: A Global Failure Analysis – Part 4: The Regulatory Price Floor and the Trust Crisis in Modern Mobility 5 The Structural Limits of Automotive Affordability: A Global Failure Analysis – Part 5: The Cost Substitution: Affordability in the Electric Age ← Series Home Mandated Safety and the Shifting Cost Narrative The disappearance of genuinely cheap new cars is often attributed to the continuous expansion of mandatory safety and emissions regulations. It is undeniable that modern vehicles incorporate technologies that establish a structural price floor far above the stripped-down models of the past. However, this regulatory pressure is amplified by a pervasive, deep-seated crisis of consumer trust in the automotive industry itself. While essential safety mandates add unavoidable costs, they are often resisted or exaggerated by manufacturers and politicians seeking to pin high prices on regulation rather than systemic economic choices. This opposition occurs against the backdrop of the automotive sector ranking as the lowest-rated consumer-facing sector in global trust research, underscoring a fundamental rupture in the relationship between manufacturers and buyers. ...