My Dad owned a GM dealership in the 70's. I grew up working in the parts department. Part of the business model were "genuine Delco parts" plus a very busy service department. So, low fixed cost with high variable cost. Somewhat akin to that cheap printer with expensive ink.

Then I read the March 1973 "Bicycle" issue of Scientific American, which measured efficiency in terms of Kilograms/Kilometers/KCalories. Back then bikes were about 28x more efficient than cars. Steve Jobs referred to that article when he declared computers to be a "bicycle for the mind". As for me: I dropped cars and bought a bike.