Living Car Free - Unsold Cars Around the World

Ran into this photo essay during my evening newsreading. Holy mackerel! They just can't stop themselves.

http://www.businessinsider.com/unsold-cars-around-the-world-2009-2

The last car I bought was in 1986. I've been car-free since that car died in April 1999. Should I feel responsible? :lol:

Ran into this photo essay during my evening newsreading. Holy mackerel! They just can't stop themselves.

http://www.businessinsider.com/unsold-cars-around-the-world-2009-2

The last car I bought was in 1986. I've been car-free since that car died in April 1999. Should I feel responsible? :lol:
:lol: ???
Yep, indications of a world wide economic depression and rising unemployment rates is a real barrel of laffs, eh?

Being car free-especially using bikes as a real car/truck alternative-should be a choice done under no pressure from not being able to afford a motor vehicle. This photo spread should be a sound of alarm for the cyclists of any persuasion. I see a "Is being able to buy either a new or used bike of your choice is next?" in anyone's future if this Depression continues any longer. It will be for sure if we all hit the unemployment/welfare line.

This fills me with dread, not happiness.

It is pretty scary that the car companies over produced that many cars... If you were able to photograph unsold homes I bet it would look similar... Just goes to show what a screwed up mess we are in...

On a lighter note at least the guy (or gal) in charge of keeping track of al those keys will be gainfully employed for quite some time..

Those cars would only take a month to be sold. One of the captions in that photo essay mentioned that one month of car production for just one company was down fifty-three thousand units. All of those photos together wouldn't add up to fifty-three thousand cars. The problem is that the manufacturers are still making more of them. With the two to four month halts in production at different plants around the world those parked new cars and trucks will get sold.

The one thing the news programs and talk show hosts don't really talk about is that things that get produced still have value. Food still has value. Cars still have value. Clothes still have value too. People who make needed items will always have jobs. Only the items that aren't really necessary will suffer sales losses.

My life hasn't changed at all. I am debt free and now I will be one of the people who gets to pay for all of the stupidity and criminality of bankers and investors. Nobody is sending government money to me and it makes me angry.

While the thought of a complete global economic meltdown does keep me up at night, the idea that one side effect may be fewer cars on the road gives me hope for the future.

Call me an anarchist, but I dread economic collapse less than I dread complete biosphere collapse. Even if it does mean I'll have to learn to grow my own food.

The reason these cars aren't moving is becuase they are just too expensive. It's that simple. People would buy them by smiply taking out loans on their over inflated homes. Many would just borrow another loan and put the new vehicle's debt on top the the old. Well, those days are over.

Today's vehicles were built at a high cost because the dealers expected the motorist to borrow up to their eyeballs if they wanted to drive in luxury. As a result, the sticker prices on new cars have not dropped significantly which is why the cars are not moving. The autocompanies are going to have to refocus on building "Cheap" and inexpensive vehicles because the first one to introduce the $5,000.00 dollar car is going to make alot of money.

As for all those cars, in the lot, many will still be there by the end of this year. We're not coming out of the recession until 2011 and all those folks who lost jobs are not buying new cars. The spend thrifts are saving their money.

To me it is a prime example of continuing to do the same thing and expecting different results. Ford and many of the foreign manufacturers saw the downturn coming and did what they felt was necessary to be in a better financial situation. I don't believe they expected the downturn to hit as hard and fast as it did, hence the massive inventories. GM and Chrysler continued to attempt to do business as usual and now we as US taxpayers are going to foot the bill.

As far as getting new bicycles...I have enough old ones and they don't seem to wear out as fast as my cars did.;)

Aaron:)

The last car I bought was in 1986. I've been car-free since that car died in April 1999. Should I feel responsible? :lol:

Yes, you should....we all should. It's our fault, because we didn't go into massive amounts of debt to buy an overpriced status item thats good for, at most, 10 years, with a high on-going cost. <j/k>

By keeping debt-free (or with a minimum) & car-free, we're really doing the opposite - money in the bank with no debt _allows us to_ by "stuff", and even if we don't.....money in the bank isn't going to waste...not at all. Banks need deposits to be able to loan, to get interest. No bank deposits, no loans.

Nice try @ making us feel guilty by not buying cars, ILTB, better luck next time....

Today's vehicles were built at a high cost because the dealers expected the motorist to borrow up to their eyeballs if they wanted to drive in luxury. As a result, the sticker prices on new cars have not dropped significantly which is why the cars are not moving. The autocompanies are going to have to refocus on building "Cheap" and inexpensive vehicles because the first one to introduce the $5,000.00 dollar car is going to make alot of money..

Not available in the USA, yet.......
http://tatanano.inservices.tatamotors.com/tatamotors/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=168

The are not building all those because they want to, they are contracted to do it. When they find a company to build widget x they sign a contract stating they will buy y number of them over z years. So if they stop assembling the final product they end up with a bunch of parts sitting around. Not to mention the workers who are in a union contract for several years so they have to pay them no matter if they assemble the cars or not.

It could be worse... all those cars could be on the road.

To me it is a prime example of continuing to do the same thing and expecting different results. Ford and many of the foreign manufacturers saw the downturn coming and did what they felt was necessary to be in a better financial situation. I don't believe they expected the downturn to hit as hard and fast as it did, hence the massive inventories. GM and Chrysler continued to attempt to do business as usual and now we as US taxpayers are going to foot the bill.

As far as getting new bicycles...I have enough old ones and they don't seem to wear out as fast as my cars did.;)

Aaron:)

Isn't that the definition of insanity?

I know this isn't right, but I was kinda glad to see that Toyota has requested a government bailout. I had predicted this in an earlier thread. The real problem isn't mismanagement of GM (or any other company). Mismanagement was a small part of the problem. More important is the historic necessity of car companies being highly leveraged, combined with the sharpest downturn in demand for new cars since 1930. Then pile on the unavailability of credit due to the financial meltdown. This is a perfect storm, and most of the world's car companies will liquidate if things don't turn around for them quite soon.

Unfortunately, this doesn't necessarily mean a long-term reduction in the number of cars on the road. Eventually--unless other factors change--people will resume buying cars, and make up for the time they lost in buying cars. There's just a good chance, however, that the cars they buy will be built by different companies, and the people building them will not be paid living wages.

Planned obsolescence, gotta love it!

Nice try @ making us feel guilty by not buying cars, ILTB, better luck next time....

The reason those cars are not sold has nothing to do with a handful of sanctimonious posters smirking about the economic downturn, nor is it a result of "our" alleged buying smarts.

As far as getting new bicycles...I have enough old ones and they don't seem to wear out as fast as my cars did.;)

I know the feeling. I was riding this beastie 10 years before I ever owned a car. They have come and gone and it's still on the road.

http://www.pointhappy.com/gcf/AmEagleNishikism.jpg

wow! crazy pics.

Call me an anarchist, but I dread economic collapse less than I dread complete biosphere collapse.
That should be attitude of every thinking individual. It's got nothing to do with anarchy. Perhaps the economic collapse is God's way of telling us that we need to stop burning the candle at both ends. My great fear is that we emerge from this "collapse" with a strong urge to get back to business.

I know the feeling. I was riding this beastie 10 years before I ever owned a car. They have come and gone and it's still on the road.

http://www.pointhappy.com/gcf/AmEagleNishikism.jpg

How many miles do you have on that bike?

The reason these cars aren't moving is becuase they are just too expensive. It's that simple. People would buy them by smiply taking out loans on their over inflated homes. Many would just borrow another loan and put the new vehicle's debt on top the the old. Well, those days are over.

Today's vehicles were built at a high cost because the dealers expected the motorist to borrow up to their eyeballs if they wanted to drive in luxury. As a result, the sticker prices on new cars have not dropped significantly which is why the cars are not moving. The autocompanies are going to have to refocus on building "Cheap" and inexpensive vehicles because the first one to introduce the $5,000.00 dollar car is going to make alot of money.

As for all those cars, in the lot, many will still be there by the end of this year. We're not coming out of the recession until 2011 and all those folks who lost jobs are not buying new cars. The spend thrifts are saving their money.

Here is your Venture Capital Opportunity (http://www.nextbillion.net/blog/2006/06/26/indias-model-t-tatas-2000-car-out-by-2008).

How many miles do you have on that bike?

I have nooooo idea. Closest estimate would be a lot.

it is quite amazing how many cars are produced. We really have become so wasteful as a society, I admit I am pretty bad with buying rubbish and then throwing it away, but I have started to turn a leaf and am trying to reuse what I have by fixing it up a bit and trying to buy good quality goods that will last.

Hopefully everyone can start to realise we waste too much, I have said it before and will say it again: perhaps this economic downturn can open peoples' eyes to this and we can turn ourselves around before it is too late.

I know the feeling. I was riding this beastie 10 years before I ever owned a car. They have come and gone and it's still on the road.

http://www.pointhappy.com/gcf/AmEagleNishikism.jpg

I like that:thumb: What sized frame? Looks about like a 24"-25" and set up about the same way I did my drop bar bikes. I still have my Motobecane Nomade frameset that I have had since the mid 70's. Not really sure what year it is, bought it for $35 as a basket case. Then ended up doing a transcontinental on it in 1977 after my Bob Jackson World Tourist got stolen.:notamused:

Aaron:)

I like that:thumb: What sized frame? Looks about like a 24"-25" and set up about the same way I did my drop bar bikes. I still have my Motobecane Nomade frameset that I have had since the mid 70's. Not really sure what year it is, bought it for $35 as a basket case. Then ended up doing a transcontinental on it in 1977 after my Bob Jackson World Tourist got stolen.:notamused:

Aaron:)

Those memories are priceless. You can't buy a new bike that comes equipped with those. That's why the American Eagle/Nishiki is getting a restomod job done as I can. It's a 23". I've never done a transcontinental on it yet. ;)

The car companies are a victim of their own success. They convinced people to spend discretionary income on cars. They convinced people that 16 year old kids need cars. They convinced people that the best way to show your affluence is through your car.

Well now they're seeing the flip side as people retrench.

I actually have four cars in my family, because I am one of those guys who got cars for my kids (which is funny because I always said I wouldn't do it). Their average age is 9 years old; their average mileage is 93k. I've only sold one car with fewer than 100k miles in my life though; I've never been one of those buy-a-new-car-every-two-years kind of guys.

When this is all over, the "winners" will be Ford and Hyundai I think. Ford wins because they began their retrenching a while back and are ahead of the curve. Hyundai wins because in recent years they've moved way up in quality and amenities, but their prices still lag comparable cars. Why buy a Lexus GS 350 for $44k

http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/pictures/VEHICLE/2008/Lexus/100943572/20159459-300x189.jpg

when you can buy a Hyundai Genesis for $32k?

http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/pictures/VEHICLE/2009/Hyundai/2009.hyundai.genesis.20232690-300x189.jpg

I noticed this trend in the affluent part of town as early as last summer, before the bottom dropped out.

TTheir average age is 9 years old; their average mileage is 93k.



I did a bit of a double-take here, before I realized you were talking about the cars.

...No bank deposits, no loans.

Nice try @ making us feel guilty by not buying cars, ILTB, better luck next time....

Do you really believe the banks lend money based on the deposits they receive? That used to be the way, with central banking and deregulation (which effects the ratio of deposits to lending) that has pretty much all changed. Banks can virtually print their own money to lend at this point.


That should be attitude of every thinking individual. It's got nothing to do with anarchy. Perhaps the economic collapse is God's way of telling us that we need to stop burning the candle at both ends. My great fear is that we emerge from this "collapse" with a strong urge to get back to business.

+1 We definitely need to get back to business, just a different kind....

Call me an anarchist, but I dread economic collapse less than I dread complete biosphere collapse. Even if it does mean I'll have to learn to grow my own food.

+1. (It does occur to me, though, that our current mess may have something to do with the rate at which we're consuming resources....)

After looking at those photos, I looked at Google Earth. I don't know most of the places, of course, but I could handle Newark. Take a look at this location, for example; then look around that area. That's a lot of new cars.

40 41 28.12 N
74 08 22.82 W

After looking at those photos, I looked at Google Earth. I don't know most of the places, of course, but I could handle Newark. Take a look at this location, for example; then look around that area. That's a lot of new cars.

40 41 28.12 N
74 08 22.82 W

Problem with Google Earth is they don't always have the most up to date pictures. FWIW the ones of my property haven't been updated in over 5 years...must live in a slow part of the country.:lol:

Aaron:)

Problem with Google Earth is they don't always have the most up to date pictures. FWIW the ones of my property haven't been updated in over 5 years...must live in a slow part of the country.:lol:

Aaron:)

Yep, same here. I can see my house, but the new housing scheme is missing, and the new school (I say new, it was built 7 years ago) is just fields.

Problem with Google Earth is they don't always have the most up to date pictures....

True, but it helps to check back every now and then. In my area they recently uploaded new maps, replacing one from ca 2002 with one from ca 2007.

I hadn't checked for a while - you're right! The school is now all present and correct, and my neighbour's car which they bought just over a year ago is parked outside too. Still doesn't have the final level of detail in my area though.

I found a serious error on google maps yesterday--an insurance company in Lansing is labelled as a major shopping center that's actually more than 2 miles away. The shopping center isn't labelled at all. this is the case on map, satellite and terrain map.

I'm so surprised that google maps isn't interactive, so users could correct and update the maps.

did anybody ever check out Wikimapia (http://wikimapia.org/)?

No you're not to blame. It's the UAW. It's probably easier and cheaper to keep producing cars, than to stop production.

No you're not to blame. It's the UAW. It's probably easier and cheaper to keep producing cars, than to stop production.

Incorrect. The auto plants here were closed for the last part of December (as normal) but also for all of January and much of February. The reason was to cut inventory and save money--and to keep the Dixiepublican Senators happy.

The UAW workers have made deep concessions and givebacks in the last few years. New hires start at $14 an hour--much less than Toyota hires make. I'm not sure why the Republicans want American wages to regress to the level of third world pay scales, but this is clearly what's happening.

I'm not sure why the Republicans want American wages to regress to the level of third world pay scales, but this is clearly what's happening.

I'm pretty sure the democrats want wages to regress to third world pay scales too, because the global justice demonstrations occurred during the Clinton years. I remember talking with Clinton era government economists- who have secure jobs and pensions. They crowed about how first capital became globally liquid and now the wto and treaties like nafta made labor globally liquid so if unions don't fold up, jobs will flow offshore.

I found a serious error on google maps yesterday--an insurance company in Lansing is labelled as a major shopping center that's actually more than 2 miles away. The shopping center isn't labelled at all. this is the case on map, satellite and terrain map.

I'm so surprised that google maps isn't interactive, so users could correct and update the maps.

did anybody ever check out Wikimapia (http://wikimapia.org/)?

Thats probably not an error. My office building is labeled as the mall across the street and I was told they changed it to match the bus stop names.

It is pretty scary that the car companies over produced that many cars... If you were able to photograph unsold homes I bet it would look similar... Just goes to show what a screwed up mess we are in...

On a lighter note at least the guy (or gal) in charge of keeping track of al those keys will be gainfully employed for quite some time..

Speaking of unsold homes, there are tons of them around here ....

I found a serious error on google maps yesterday--an insurance company in Lansing is labelled as a major shopping center that's actually more than 2 miles away. The shopping center isn't labelled at all. this is the case on map, satellite and terrain map.

I'm so surprised that google maps isn't interactive, so users could correct and update the maps.

did anybody ever check out Wikimapia (http://wikimapia.org/)?

A lot of their stuff is screwy. The grocery store closest to my house doesn't show up in the right place on Google Maps, it shows up about 2-3 miles away on a different road.

Aaron:)

Those memories are priceless. You can't buy a new bike that comes equipped with those. That's why the American Eagle/Nishiki is getting a restomod job done as I can. It's a 23". I've never done a transcontinental on it yet. ;)

Oh my and it even has stem shifters. :eek: Does it at least have 700c wheels and tires?:D

Thats probably not an error. My office building is labeled as the mall across the street and I was told they changed it to match the bus stop names.

No. As I said in the post that you quoted, the real shopping mall is 2-3 miles away. And not only a different bus stop, a different bus route.

did anybody ever check out Wikimapia (http://wikimapia.org/)?
Interesting. I just went in and corrected an opinion someone had posted about my neighbourhood being a speed trap (for autos...)
http://wikimapia.org/#lat=41.5995827&lon=-93.7133574&z=17&l=0&m=a&v=2

And Im sure those photos are just a drop in the bucket of unsold new cars....what a waste.

Recycle all those cars into bikes

Ran into this photo essay during my evening newsreading. Holy mackerel! They just can't stop themselves.

http://www.businessinsider.com/unsold-cars-around-the-world-2009-2

The last car I bought was in 1986. I've been car-free since that car died in April 1999. Should I feel responsible? :lol:


Naw, since I have no plans of ever buying a car, and I don't feel any responsibility for the unsold car mess. If anything, I am actually happy that no one is buying the cars, since the roads right now are congested to the max and we don't need anymore cars adding to the horrible traffic congestion on top of "hard-to-find parking" and the "wallet-draining costs of automobile ownership".

No. As I said in the post that you quoted, the real shopping mall is 2-3 miles away. And not only a different bus stop, a different bus route.

What I was meaning is there could be a reaosn its listed that way, and then the exampe of my work, I thought it was wrong but found out there was a reason it appeared wrong to me.

Interesting. I just went in and corrected an opinion someone had posted about my neighbourhood being a speed trap (for autos...)
http://wikimapia.org/#lat=41.5995827&lon=-93.7133574&z=17&l=0&m=a&v=2

To most of the general public , speed trap = speed limit actually is enforced.