Gloomy prospects: an expert explains why driving a car will become more expensive in the long term

Created: 12/28/2022, 9:30 am

By: Sebastian Oppenheimer

Anyone who wanted to buy a new car in 2022 had to dig deep into their pockets.

That could change in the new year.

This will incur other costs in the long run.

Driving has never been a really cheap pleasure - but in 2022, fuel prices at times shot up to unprecedented heights.

In order to at least dampen the expenses a little, many drove less or adhered more to methods to save fuel.

But buying a car has also become significantly more expensive: the discounts for new cars have shrunk – and the prices for used cars have also risen sharply.

The good news: according to automotive expert Stefan Bratzel, Professor of Automotive Management at the Bergisch Gladbach University of Applied Sciences and Director of the Center of Automotive Management (CAM), prices are set to fall in the near future.

The bad: It gets more expensive in the long run.

Gloomy prospects: an expert explains why driving a car will become more expensive in the long term

“What we are witnessing at the moment is a spike that will flatten out again.

In the course of the expected recession in 2023, demand will decrease, and at the same time supply chain problems should calm down," says Bratzel.

"I assume that things will calm down in the second half of the new year, by 2024 at the latest: Vehicles will become more available again, prices will fall from the current top level.

In principle, however, we have to get used to a higher level of costs.

In the longer term, automobility will become more expensive, regardless of the special influences.”

According to one expert, driving a car will become more and more expensive in the long term.

(Iconic image) © agefotostock/Imago

Expensive driving: Part production more expensive because car manufacturers are regionalizing their production to a greater extent

According to Bratzel, for example, the production of parts is becoming more expensive because the manufacturers are regionalizing their production.

To ensure stronger supply chain security, globalization is being scaled back and stocks are being replenished.

There would also be environmental costs, such as those for CO₂.

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Expensive driving: Expert predicts bonus-malus regulations

The state is also helping to make driving more expensive.

"We already have a tendency to increase parking fees in cities, and parking for residents is also becoming more expensive," says Bratzel.

"I think it's a realistic scenario that in the next five to ten years we'll get bonus-malus regulations, so that vehicles that pollute more heavily will be taxed more heavily."