The rocketing cost of repairing crashed cars means 21 percent of wrecks now result in a vehicle being totaled by insurance firms, a five-fold increase versus 1980.
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So in 1980, only 4% of cars were written off as not repairable? Since 1980 already had a bunch of electronics, it would be interesting to go back even further to see what the stats are....
The electronics are a big part, but a lot cars are totalled because any damage to most of the high strength steels require parts replacement.
Back in the day with mild steel only, the body shop could pull the car back into spec, heat the frame during the pull, and collision repair was a lot cheaper. But the crash safety was nowhere near as good.
Repairability - crash safety - light weight: pick any two.
“Since 1980 already had a bunch of electronics, it would be interesting to go back even further to see what the stats are....”
Be more interesting to find the stats for Cuba.