When cars became cheaper from year to year
11/12/2013
We are used to cars becoming more expensive year after year due to general price increases and improved technology. But this was not always the case. In the 1950s, productivity rose sharply and car manufacturers passed the efficiency gains on to customers. Of course, they did not do this entirely selflessly, as they naturally benefited from price elasticity. The cheaper cars became, the more workers could afford their own vehicle during the economic miracle.
In 1949, for example, the VW Beetle cost DM 5450 as an export model (you could of course also buy this better-equipped model in Germany). A year later, you paid DM 5400. And in 1951, the price was reduced to DM 5150. In 1954 there was a further price reduction to DM 4850 and in 1961 you only had to pay DM 4600 for a new Beetle. And in return, millions of Beetles were bought.
Incidentally, something similar happened in the 1970s, when suppliers wanted to get through the crisis with basic models that were usually somewhat poorly equipped but cheaper in price.
Incidentally, a book was recently published about VW Beetle production in the early 1950s, which we have described in our book corner .
