I had tried a gull-wing Model X last fall with an earlier version of Autopilot, but since then the stakes — for both Tesla and consumers — have soared.
Consumer borrowing has soared from $770 billion outstanding in 1992 to $1.3 trillion now, of which over 40% is credit-card debt.
Despite tepid growth and still-high unemployment, consumer confidence has soared to a five-year high, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan.
About 17% of the consumer-goods industry's sales disappear into such trade spending, says Ms Hulit.Meanwhile, the complexity of advertising, marketing and distributing branded consumer goods has soared, further pushing up costs.
A recent research paper co-written by the vice chairman of the Federal Reserve said that the rise in home prices was the primary reason that consumer borrowing has soared since 2001.
Relative to American consumer spending, Asian consumption has soared (see chart 2).In most Asian economies, private consumption is 50-60% of GDP, which is not out of line with rates in countries at similar levels of income elsewhere.
Since the surcharges were introduced in 1996, the number of new A.T.M.'s has soared to meet consumer demand.
Consumer demand for off-price retail has soared, in part because of an improvement in the quality and variety of clothes they offer.
Consumer spending on UK gym membership has soared by 44% in the last year, figures reveal, driven by the growth in popularity of new, budget gyms which come without the expensive shackles of contracts that cannot be unlocked and hefty fees.
