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To: 1Old Pro

Okay, so you are citing the $20 or less parts cost of the camera as the reason cars are not dropping in cost?

Even when you find something you aren’t really winning your case.

Regulation is NOT what is driving car prices, its mostly user desired tech. Does regulation have a cost? Sure, but the bulk of what has driven/kept car prices higher is TECH, not that is regulated, but that is desired.

Look at a care today, and then look at a care from 1970. Yes there are mandated safety features (not a bad thing) and the ODB-II system, and pollution controls that have all been mandated.. but the bulk of the stuff you find different in a car today, and a car from 1970 are not these things... AC is now standard, on all but the cheapest models, as is Automatic Transmissions... Entertainment centers, GPS Maps, Integrated Bluetooth, USB Ports, Apple /Android integration, tire sensors, etc etc etc.. Tech features that are being added not by regulation, but because of consumer prices and supply chain cost reductions are why.

Manufacturers figured out long ago, offering a manual or an automatic transmission added more cost to the car and its manufacture than it was worth for the few folks who choose standard, so few models exist with it as an option, they all come with an auto. Etc, etc etc...

Blaming regulation as the primary driver for car prices is foolish and dishonest. Auto manufactuers today are platform integrators, more than anything else.

Don’t believe me on the tech? Open up your users manual... for any car built in the last 5 years.. now look how many pages of it are dedicated to the actual driving and operation of the car.. and how much is dedicated to using the tech that is integrated into it. Generally the actual operation of the vehicle is maybe 1/3 the number of pages as the documentation to use the various integrated tech.

ANd the overwhelming majority of that tech is NOT regulated... The first commercial vehicle with a back up camera was first introduced in the US in a production vehicle in 2002 by Nissan... 17 years later rear view cameras are standard equipment (prior to regulatory requirement) on nearly all but the most base models/packages. Their raw cost including the 7” screen is less than $20 if not $10 for the manufacturer . So arguing its the main thing driving up costs is silly.

The Nissan Versa, which is the cheapest production car, in its base model on the US market had peak sales in 2015, with a bit under 150k in sales. In 2018 it sold just over 75k. That’s all models of the car, not just the base model.... but that shows what I have been telling you, people don’t buy in any large numbers basic vehicles... If a manufacturer makes a bare bones car, they just don’t sell in any numbers... the market has demanded the tech. This is what is driving the bulk of costs these days NOT regulation.


42 posted on 06/18/2019 10:08:32 AM PDT by HamiltonJay
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To: HamiltonJay

Humor me if you will.... take a 350 Chev. V-8 4V from a 1975 pickup and a 350 V-8 FI from a 2002 pickup. Put the 1975 eng. in the 2002 and the 2002 eng. in the 1975. What would be the approx. fuel mileage of each and why?


50 posted on 06/18/2019 2:31:24 PM PDT by A Voice (As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the end times.)
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