by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 04.24.07
Cars & Transportation (cars)
Renault-Nissan is planning on building a car for under $3000. 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 ceap car could have a major impact on the industry as a whole.
Despite being priced under $3000, these car will be designed to be comfortable and safe. They will also be engineered from the ground up — stripped-down versions of outdated designs won't cut it. Tata's model is a four door vehicle with a 33-horsepower engine, and a top speed of around 80 mph. The automaker claims it will even pass a crash test. Whatever the lowest sticker price turns out to be, the discounting trend will hit cars across the board, from minis to SUVs.
The market for these cars is huge. According to Business Week:
Quote:
There's no lack of potential customers: Hundreds of millions of Chinese, Indians, Brazilians, Russians, and others will likely join the middle class in the coming decade, and cars are sure to be at the top of their shopping lists. As a result, the global car market is polarizing: The luxury segment continues to grow, cheap cars boom, and everything else gets squeezed. By 2012, the market for vehicles priced under $10,000 is likely to reach 18 million cars, or a fifth of world auto sales, according to Roland Berger Strategy Consultants. That's up from 12 million today.
I'm sure these small, inexpensive cars get many miles per gallon. I wonder if any of the carmakers will be considering biofuel or plug-in electric models.
Not long ago Lexmark would have people believe that it's printers were real cheap.. they made up the cheaper costs with ink sales just like most printers. I remember having a cheap car that had very expensive parts. Probably just another clever trick to milk the poor. For $3000 I bought a used Geo Prizm which is just like a Toyota Corolla minus $1000. Which would be better in the long run?
Thu Apr 26, 2007 12:02 pm
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alexclaton VIP
Joined: 05 Mar 2006 Posts: 640 Location: Hell on earth
lol with printers its cheaper to buy a new printer then to buy their extremely overpriced ink...
as for the cars... well shit... let me know when i can buy the thing for under a grand... ill drive it till it dies and buy a new one... if it lasts 2+ years wit was worth it...
He's just getting started, but this should give you hope. There are people out there who aren't sitting around, waiting for someone else to give them what they need. "Hey, what does this string over here do?"
However, if you are currently being restricted by the UCC as a 14th Amendment Citizen, you should be aware that there might be regulations that prevent you from exercising your rights. In other words, you might not be allowed to drive your creation on the road until it meets the requirements of the regulations that you unwittingly agree to comply with.
A consequence is these new "scratch built" vehicles cannot be licensed for street use, as they do not meet the myriad of regulations applying to new cars, and are not exempt as they were if rebuilt from original components fabricated before new rules came into effect.
I can't find a good source for the DMV rules that apply to customizing/creating custom cars...
Mon Apr 30, 2007 7:30 am
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alexclaton VIP
Joined: 05 Mar 2006 Posts: 640 Location: Hell on earth
build something with more then 4 wheels and just call it something other then a car/truck, better yet make it move by means other then an engine/motor and then tell them to fvck off as its not a motorized vehicle therefore they cant tell u shit...
This is amazing, India who protects its own industries from outside competition is now selling to the rest of the world, these cars will be for the working class people, the divide gets bigger ever day.
Here's a guy that is trying to do exactly that: