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Old 07-29-2020, 04:56 PM   #19 (permalink)
JSH
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aerohead View Post
3) Evidently, it's also cheaper, and more profitable to manufacture with an automatic, than a manual ( from Bob Lutz). He would know.
Yes and No. One for one the manual is simpler and cheaper to make. However, as the product mix moves more and more to the automatic - economy of scale kicks and the parts for the automatic get cheaper and the parts for the manual get more expensive until at some point the lines cross and the automatic is cheaper.

There are other factors too.

Manufacturing: The manual is likely on a different assembly line than the automatic and that line takes up valuable space. If there is a space pinch in the plant the business case can be made to kill the manual and rip out that line instead of paying millions to add additional space to the plant.

Design: The space on the front wall (firewall) of a modern car is tight and space is at a premium. When you have manual transmission the clutch and reservoir have a space claim on the front wall that other components have to work around. Sometimes you have to add brackets that are more expensive or make the assembly process more complicated to accommodate the manual option. Take a car like the Honda Accord. Honda sold 267K last year and 1% were sold with the manual. Do you add $1* to 264,000 automatic Accords so that you can sell 2670 manuals? That is $100 for every manual Accord sold.

*Adding $1 cost per car is a huge amount in the automotive world.


Programing:
Every engine / transmission combination has unique engine management programing and each one takes thousands of hours. That cost is split over the number of vehicles sold

Testing:
Every engine / transmission combination has to be tested. Hot, Cold, fuel economy, durability, towing, etc. Again, that cost is spread over the number of vehicles sold with that transmission. There is also the matter of resources. There are only so many technicians and dynos. At some point you have to limit the number of test so you don't have to add equipment or people.

Service:
Parts have to be stocked – the more parts, the bigger the warehouse, the more people required, the more logistical headaches

Training:
Every dealer in the USA has to have at least 1 technician trained to work on the manual

In the end it all adds up and it doesn’t make much sense to keep offering a low margin or negative margin option that sells a few thousand a year.
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