As we have changed! As Michael Jackson would say…

The world is constantly changing, that’s a fact. And the automotive one, too. You just have to take a look at the car brand configurator, which, as with the Auto Bild garage, is rarely the time when there is no electric or plug-in hybrid car. So much so, that the other day I was surprised, that when pressing the ignition button of a vehicle, it sounded. Word! We have reached that point.

But hey, the change goes for other paths. Two, exactly. The first is the price of cars. My colleague Aarón Pérez wrote an article the other day in which he compared what 10 cheap cars cost in 2010 and what they cost now. As you can imagine, and as you may have noticed in your pocket, if you have bought a car lately, the increase has been very high.

And I’m not talking about, for example, the Renault Twingo, which is ‘logical’ the rise because the one currently on the market is electric, a version that is much more expensive. No. I’m talking about cars like the Fiat 500, which in 2010 cost 10,750 euros and now, thirteen years later and being the same generation, its price starts at 16,500 euros. An increase of 53.4% ​​that could be justified by the updates and light hybridization, but not…

Another more serious case is that of the Ford Fiesta. In 2010 it was sold with a 1.25-liter four-cylinder engine that offered 60 HP of power for 9,690 euros. Today’s is much more powerful (125 CV), is equipped with ‘mild-hybrid’ technology and brings a greater technological endowment, but starts at 24,677 euros, 154.6%. And it is not the only case, because there are more of this type.

The second change I wanted to talk to you about is the size. They say that size matters, but I’m one of those who thinks that it doesn’t… 😅 That being said, the models have grown a lot; up to 63% in size and 70% in weight. For example, the Fiat 500 weighs 73% more in 2020 than when it appeared in 1957. Or the 1964 Ford Mustang had an area of ​​7,989,716 mm², and now, 13,012,480 mm². I leave you many more examples in this article from our Top Gear colleagues.

How beautiful is the profession of the Motor Journalist! And we will have to take advantage of the few years that remain. He may sound catastrophic, but I think, unfortunately, I don’t think he will reach retirement age enjoying – and surviving – it.

I’ll explain why. The first of the culprits is artificial intelligence. Surely you have heard the word ChatGPT. It is a chat system based on the language model by Artificial Intelligence that can answer the questions you ask. Not only that, but create the article you want, with the paragraphs you want, the focus you want and with the extension you want.

But the thing does not end there, because you can learn. For example, you can gradually absorb how I write so that the texts you create seem to be mine. The positive part is that we can have new material from deceased poets, novelists, satirists or playwrights, even centuries ago. Imagine the third part of Don Quixote or a new Agatha Christie novel. The negative part, that he would not have a salary to pay the mortgage.

I hope you continue to value the human part of our texts.

The other great threat of this profession is the autonomous car. It is true that many manufacturers have put the brakes on due to the high costs of advancing in this field, but in a short time it will go to the next level… You just have to see the article that this brave madman wrote, who has two children, after riding in a self-driving Nissan Leaf that he drove like a real person. When the cars are autonomous, what are we motor journalists going to try?