An interesting article1 came across my feed. It says that the safety performance of a Corolla from 1998, or 17 years ago, and a current Corolla is worlds apart:
ANCAP gave the 1998 Corolla a zero-star rating. Sensors indicated that the dummy sustained serious injuries to the head, legs, and chest, and the car’s score was only 16 points in total, with 0.40 points achieved.
The 2015 Corolla, by contrast, received a 5-star rating and had a total of 16 points, achieving 13 points. Thanks to airbags and a far more finely segmented body structure, the driver could walk away safely, or at worst limp away with minor injuries.
(Source) http://jp.autoblog.com/2017/05/18/corolla-vs-corolla-crash-test-safety-video/
Here is the crash footage.
Could this too be a result of the information revolution, with computer simulation and similar technologies playing a major role? If so, it is interesting to consider it in the context of digital deflation.
The 1998 Corolla 1.6SE 4WD and the current Corolla Axio 1.5X 4WD both cost approximately ¥1.7 million. But their performance differs so greatly that they should not be regarded as the same “car.” The price per unit of performance has fallen dramatically. Thus, if the same product is defined as the same performance, its price has plunged. In other words, advances in digital technology are driving deflation. This is digital deflation. Government statistics, however, calculate their figures by treating both cars as the same thing. They therefore fail to capture this deflationary phenomenon—digital deflation—and make prices appear nearly flat. Consequently, the government fails to take sufficient counter-deflationary measures, continues policies with an inflationary bias, and the “lost so-many years” continue. That is the essence of the digital-deflation argument. This Corolla example embodies it perfectly.
I wonder whether the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry or a similar body might create statistics adjusted for digital deflation. It sounds interesting, but it is far beyond anything that could be done as a hobby….
Footnotes
- “Video: Crash Test Between a 1998 Toyota Corolla and a 2015 Toyota Corolla!” AutoBlog (2017-05-19) <http://jp.autoblog.com/2017/05/18/corolla-vs-corolla-crash-test-safety-video/>
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