I am shocked no one has mentioned the equipment that is now standard that used to be optional. PS, PB, cruise, PW, PL, A/C, carpet, styled wheels, all of that used to be options. The "stripper" of today was the "loaded" version of yesterday. All of that has driven the cost up.
A 5k car in January 69 was a Cadillac. Today it should be 43,100. That’s using the government bs inflation rate, so really it should be less than that. Little bit of tech can be factored in, so the new car is “worth” more in some sense, just not what they cost today. Since 1980 companies have increased their profit margin by 65% average on all products. I saw that just a few years ago. Personally I blame all the consolidation that has been allowed for that, it harms consumers, but we dispensed with antitrust regs long ago.
