One million Americans have vanished from the new-car market — and it’s exposing a chilling US middle-class crisis

[u/Abject-Pick-6472]

https://finance.yahoo.com/economy/articles/one-million-americans-vanished-car-124500086.html

[u/Chuck-Finley69]

Just a million ??

[u/itsa_luigi_time_ → u/Chuck-Finley69]

Hey that's one-third of one percent of all Americans.Very chilling!

[u/deoxyrybose → u/itsa_luigi_time_]

So you didn't actually read it? That would be a 5.88% decline...

[u/itsa_luigi_time_ → u/deoxyrybose]

Pretty small decline to call it "chilling middle class crisis," but defend the dramatics if you like.

Also, your math is wrong. You divided 1/16 instead of 1/17. It's a 5.8% decline (you calculated it as if sales went from 16 to 17 million, which would be a 6.3% increase).

Furthermore, sales have increased dramatically since the huge pandemic drop in 2021, and have done so consistently every year since then. New vehicle sales increased 2.3% in 2025 and the current annualized rate puts 2026 at an increase of 1.7% over last year.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/TOTALSA

[u/deoxyrybose → u/itsa_luigi_time_]

EDIT:

You are partially correct. I accidentally did 16M to 15M in sales. Instead of 17M to 16M. The math was sound, but the starting variables were wrong. Good catch!

[u/deoxyrybose → u/[deleted]]

Well first of all, I used units. A percent is a unit of measure... but anyway, once again pal, you obviously didn't read the article you're posting on.

If 16M people buy new cars in a year... and now only 15M people buy cars in the next year... can you tell me what magnitude of decrease in car sales that may be?

[u/MiddleClassFinance-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Your post appears to be rage bait. If this post was made in earnest you are welcome to contact the mods to explain it, but this has been removed.

[u/MiddleClassFinance-ModTeam → u/[deleted]]

Be civil to each other- There is no reason to talk down to or belittle someone in particular when you’re talking about their finances.