Truthfully, what is the cheapest car that COULD be made and be profitable?

Listen, I'm sorry for calling you a moron. That was uncalled for.

Realistically, you can't just turn around and tomorrow and suddenly you are producing a car for 5 thousand dollars.

Your premise is bases SOLELY on parts and labor.

First of all you would need to get financial backing - a.k.a. Investors.

Secondly, you will need to hire people who know the automotive industry.

Third, you will need to hire designers and engineers.

Then, after by some miracle, you have found investors and have assembled a team, you will need to find a location.

That means buying or leasing propriety.

Next, you need permits.

Then you need to build a factory to assemble these vehicles.

Then you need to hires many workers.

OP, do you see where I', going with this?

All of these HUGE expenses go into the final price of the vehicle.

It isn't just a matter of having cheap parts and labor and selling cars on the internet to cut out the dealerships.

Get President Trump on it, America could use a new "model T" to get to their new jobs.

Imagine you tried to make this car in the US... how many would you have to burn up in crash testing, economy EPA tests, and the like?

These regulations are designed not to protect you, but keep competitors out of the market.

Think what happened to Tucker on steroids and crack.

One designer and a couple engineers to design the car and keep it compliment with safety standards. I have already explained the labor and dealer bullshit.

You are simply to convinced that the way Ford and GM has screwed up is the ONLY way to make cars. My idea is NEW and BETTER, not the same old same old.

Check out the Lada Niva.

It's a beast.

[link to en.wikipedia.org (secure)]

About 11000$ for a new one - not sure if it is imported to the US though.

I have a buddy with two of 'em.
When the wall fell, he went and got them, packed them to the gills with spare parts, put em on a ship, and picked them up off the ship when it got to port here.

Wacky shifter...3 cylinders!

Ugo?

Really? You think that dealers "double the cost of a car" and you think someone else is living in the 70s??? That reminds me of a basic "how to be annoying" list that Steve Martin wrote into a song in the 70s. The list included, "Criticize things you don't know about."

Sorry, correction...he picked them up off the BOAT, when it got here.

Even the largest ocean going vessels, ships, when they enter the Great Lakes, become boats.

The gigantic freighters that carry iron into the steel mills are OreBOATS.

No manufacturer wants to make super-cheap baseline vehicles.
My closest friend assembles vehicles and tells me about a plant in Mexico producing the "same" vehicles as produced in the US, but more stripped down, roll windows, one engine choice, no luxury interiors.

Dealers get get cars delivered with no choice or preference but what sells. That's why cars come in predefined option and trim level packages.


All the real profit is in the built in, presumed, entitled to options.
The cheap car will just sit there until next year, when they decide to take a loss on it just to get it off the lot.

In other words, because the manufacturer has decided that nobody in the US will buy a car without all the frilly shit, there's no reason to offer them.
They are NOT in business to make whatever kind of car anybody thinks should be made.

They are in business to make money, and if you want to buy what they build, great.

Otherwise, pick any old car that you like and can afford, get it restored and be happy.
Costs less than new or used car payments.

You are WAAAYYYY over simplifying things.

You just don't get all that has to go into getting something of this magnitude from idea to production.

You do realize that there are more millionaires and billionaire entrepreneurs then ever before?

If successfully producing a quality automobile that meets all of the necessary safety and emission standards for $5k was so simple, it would be a reality.

I'll leave you to your fantasy.

Get a horse!

Any hot wheels or matchbox cars hands down

Back in the mid 80's to 2001 Chevrolet and Suzuki made a Metro and Swift which was very basic, reliable and inexpensive. Lots of those cars are still on the road twenty years later. Those which have lived their lives in the North where salt is put on the roads have rotted to the floorboards whereas those who are in the south are still sound cars. I bet back in the day you could purchase one for around five grand.

There were three versions: two door coupe, four door sedan, and a two door convertible. Plus if you wanted A/C and air bags you could get those.

I said labor unions and dealers. Read the whole thread before you comment. Idiot.

They already do it for about $10,000 with the absurd add ons of labor unions and dealerships. Simple remove those two things and drastically reduce the managements pay and you are close. The only reason for teams of designers and engineers is if you want new models every year and over engineered, never used features which I do not.

I would bet that 80% of the buttons and gadgets in cars are NEVER used. My car has five buttons and multiple settings for the sun roof alone and I have never opened it. My real view mirror has electronics and buttons on it that I never touch and have no idea what they do. It is big auto wasteful stupidity that you are all defending.

Elio Motors has signed up Pep boys to service their cars. Wheneverthefuck they start selling them. Pre=production price has risen from an original $6800 to $7450. Who knows what the final price will be. They will be built in a former GM plant in La, so I would say it won't be union labor.

So, if auto workers join the ranks of minimum pay, how will they and all the other minimum pay people provide for their retirement? Trust me, SS isn't enough for retirement. Will they work until they collapse on the floor of the factory?

So dont be an auto worker. Unions are for whiny asses who want high pay and pensions for easy jobs with no higher education needed. An auto worker today uses power tools to drive in a few bolts over and over all day. They can be trained to do their jobs in a couple hours. A 7-11 clerk has to learn to use the register for cash, for credit cards, sell money orders, use the computer for the gas pumps, stock the shelves, cook/serve food, maintain the drinks machines, clean, deal with customers, etc, etc. Which job is harder and should be paid more?

The vw Bug

Last Edited by Butthead on 03/26/2017 08:28 PM

[link to www.eliomotors.com (secure)] reserve yours today . 65000 reservations already. production starts soon.

Exactly, they act as if what I am saying is absurd and impossible when the best selling auto ever did this exact thing. They didnt need expensive designers and engineers because they didnt change anything for decades.

I am saying that a company just needs to copy the VW business model and throw in the no union labor, no high paid management, and no dealerships to cut out half the cost.