Quote:
Originally Posted by California98Civic
But my point is that the exaggerated claims are based in the I think false idea that the only thing that will sell is the cash savings, whereas if that were true people would not fall for all the gadgety upgrades they are offered all the time. Make it good looking (paint them all) and make it smart-cool and claim a realistic fuel savings. That might work too. And you wouldn't get sued when people discover they don't save 30% on fuel.  |
True, but how many weight-loss pills advertise ridiculous claims "when used with a sensible diet"?
There's always a catch. The same holds true for the skirts, when included with a basic hypermiling guide. The gains would mostly be the result of changes in driving habits, supplemented with the aero gains from the skirts. Butt covered.
For the business practicality of it all... we're not looking at this as a full-time business, just to fill a niche. In order to be a completely self-sustaining operation, we'd have to sell on the order of 100 units per week. Not a totally unrealistic goal considering there are over 250M passenger vehicles in the US alone, with about 5M new vehicles sold annually.
I do have a direct line with the sales manager at a local Toyota dealership. I've already had a conversation with him regarding selling them as a dealer-installed option. The dealer could charge practically whatever they want, since everything gets rolled into the finance agreement nowadays. Considering our intent is to produce an OE-quality item, he sees no problem with fitting them on a few demo vehicles, assuming all legal liabilities can be overcome. That, of course, will be the biggest hurdle of all. The other bonus for the dealer is color-matching the skirts to the vehicle, since the they would do it on-site with skilled techs. That boosts our quality control since we don't have to paint-match, and the dealer can purchase the panels at a lower price. Win-win.