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Old 10-01-2008, 04:04 PM   #9 (permalink)
feddup
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Duffman View Post
This is one giant leap of an assumption you have made there. In reality the cost of materials to manufacture the car should cost about half. The labour to assemble the car will be a lot closer to being exactly the same than it will be proportional to the weight differences of the two. To illustrate, are there any more wheels, hoods, hood latches, dash assemblies, bumpers, driving controls, suspension components, fuel systems, exhaust components.......... to install on a large car then on a small one?

On an aside, IMO this is why the big three have turned away from the small car market. UAW contracts have pushed up thier labor costs to a point where they can not compete with foreign makes on small cars because small cars have a higher ratio of labour in the total cost of the car.
It's hard to get around that "pounds of car/$" mentality. I guess a 1978 Eldorado ought to be the finest automobile made. It is if you're selling it for scrap. Americans need to embrace more of a bicycler mindset. Lighter is better. I was a little disillusioned when I found out the fit weighs almost 2500 lb. I owned a rabbit GTI that was under 2000. By the way the fit never squeaks, creaks or rattles and the rabbit did all of the above. Did Honda use those extra 500 lbs to increase structural stability? Hell yes! In laptops, MP3 players and cars you're going to pay more to shrink the same tech into a smaller package.
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