Why does it have to be anything catastrophic?
When Henry Ford introduced the Model T, infrastructure was built out, technology was invested in and more and more cars were on the US highways. At today's volume of cars on the road, gas prices could spike, fuel taxes could go up, personal jet packs could be invented, but the volume of cars will never be the same as it was when the Model T was introduced.
Unless something catastrophic happened. Like cars were against the law.
