[mateo411]

Sure, I think it is an odd line. In this case car ownership is a proxy for geography. You could probably find some other interesting proxy variables for geography, that could be used to write 500 word articles. A proxy variable that is in interesting from a monetary perspective could be something that you could use for contextual advertising. I saw four our five car ads when I skimmed the article.

[cyberge99]

Jalopnik is a car themed website.

[mateo411]

That makes a lot of sense. Jalopy is a term for a car that isn't in very good shape. I suspect that's why they chose the name Jalopnik.