Part of the reason that the price for new vehicles has gone up is the content that is expected or required today.
The cars of not so long ago were pretty basic. Today you might have 10 airbags, antilock brakes, stabiltiy control, GPS, power everything, 6, 7, or 8 speed transmissions, direct fuel injection, turbocharging on more and more engines, stricter emissions controls, better crash structure, better rollover protection and so on. the list goes on and keeps growing. I forgot the computer controls to make it all work together.
New car buyers want it all, they don't always want to pay for it.