[a href="vny!://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/04/under_3000_the.php"]Under $3000: The Race To Build Really Cheap Cars[/a]
Renault-Nissan is planning on [a href="vny!://www.treehugger.com/files/2007/04/under_3000_the.php"]building a car for under $3000[/a]. The price could be as low as $2500, which is 40% less than the least expensive sub-compact car available today. The Chief Executive of the company, Carlos Ghosn, made this announcement at a plant-opening on April 4. An Indian carmaker, Tata Motors, plans to launch a $2500 car next year. This race for the really cheap car could have a major impact on the industry as a whole.
(//image/3000-dollar-car.jpg)
I really hope they come out with something like this... Vehicles have been getting more and more expensive, as well as hideously complex. Why?
I mean a truck used to cost like 15k new.. now they are what.. 50k?
With new methods of manufacturing, and newer cheaper more lightweight materials.. why so complex and expensive.
Russ wrote:
With new methods of manufacturing, and newer cheaper more lightweight materials.. why so complex and expensive.
--
Good thoughts all around, Russmeister. But there's always the hideous R&D cost to recoup. It's a huge Catch-22. Massive design cost + cheap manufacturing + cheap materials still = expensive car.
My cynical mind thinks that if the industry is going to build and market insanely cheap cars, it's only to promote the "disposable" culture and increase the # of unit sales. The cars are going to crap out pretty quickly, as you know that noone will bother to perform routine PM on a cheap car.