Although I'm hesitant to make strong statements because inflation plays a significant role here, cars are much more sophisticated than they used to be but also very expensive as a result.
A new, average midsize new car in 1985 was approximately $11,000. (~$30,500 after inflation).
A new, average midsize sedan is now approximately $31,886.
In 1927 Model A Ford in the Town Car configuration was $1400-- this is like $24,000 now, but of course, it's a lot less car than a modern midsize.
IMO, car pricing hasn't changed much.
What do do when you can't create something more cheaply, or of a higher quality? Curve some edges, strap a layer of chrome on it, and market it endlessly to get people to buy the fundamentally identical product over and over and over again. Progress!
"Oh god, I can't believe you're still driving a 1916 - that's soooo last year."
[1] - https://modeltfordfix.com/the-1916-model-t-ford/
[2] - https://en.wikipedia.org//wiki/Planned_obsolescence#History
Not too much like a modern car to compare, though. Still no electric starting, and not a lot of capacity, creature comforts, or speed. Time between major overhauls was ~15,000 miles. Overall lifespan of the car was estimated as 100,000.
> What do do when you can't create something more cheaply, or of a higher quality? Curve some edges, strap a layer of chrome on it, and market it endlessly to get people to buy the fundamentally identical product over and over and over again. Progress!
When we're comparing to vehicles with anything like modern speeds and capacities,... average vehicle age / longevity is higher than its ever been. (It's a bit more difficult to compare before the mid-1960s because vehicles were rebuilt and overhauled so much before then...)
I'm just saying: there's not really any cars like a model T anymore. Not just because of increased technology, but because of improved underlying technology: customers expect more (volume, mass capacity, interior comforts, ancillary features, speed, etc) and that increases cost.
We could probably make something a lot like a model T pretty cheaply still, if there were a big market for it.
I'm unaware of anything else under $20k, although the Ford Maverick is impressively reasonable at $21k.