> won't have enough cash to grow production at a high rate and be able to
> product [produce] a LOT more vehicles?
No, as I said, and you quoted, I get that. I guess I am bemoaning,
generally, the direction that vehicle, and apparently all
manufacturing is going.
I know two people who sold lightly-used tractors for more than the
original purchase price because those tractors were made before
software and emissions controls were imposed on all the new product
lines. John Deere and Kubota (to name two) have locked out users from
all but the most basic maintenance and aftermarket parts acquisition.
The owner of the Kubota was very displeased to find that his new 90
HP replacement tractor required him to operate it in particular ways
to satisfy the DEF system, which makes it less useful for his purposes.
Did Ford, Nissan (Datsun) or VW start out making high-end vehicles? I
seem to remember that they began with modest offerings and built a
reputation and business model based on the merits of their product
and at least seemingly honest business models.
Today, we have manufacturers who take the pharmaceutical industries
approach, and give the consumer a take-it-or-leave it choice, never
stooping to provide for potential customers who neither want nor need
more than basic transportation (in the case of EV's, looking at
Tesla, Ford, et al). The few that did build and sell useful
basic-feature EVs have done pretty will by them, they held up mostly
well, were popular (in spite of being ugly, and not in a cute way),
and must not have been too much of a revenue loss for an otherwise
successful car maker to put out.
In the end, I don't see a trickle-down effect, at least not with the
familiar players we have to work with. They seem more likely to
continue to produce high-end, high profit products that sell to a
significant portion of the population and make them yet more money.
Why down-size when you are riding high? Does anybody ~really~ think
that they are that altruistic?
NOTE! NOTE! NOTE! NOTE! NOTE! NOTE!
Due to an overload of spam and other issues, I've decided to
deactivate my Juno mail account.
All new messages should be directed to me at: shar...@housetrucks.org
Please update your address book to reflect this change,
I'll continue to check the old account for a short time.
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