My own guess is that the economy cars look alike because of technology. I moved to
Ireland in 1992, before the economy boomed, and there was (to me anyway) a startling
homogeneity among the mostly small, cheap cars. All small and boxy. In the last
decade, the Irish economy has boomed,
--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
My own guess is that the economy cars look alike
because of technology.
I asked a former GM engineer with 40 years at the
company if there was any engineering reason why all
compact cars look the same, even between
manufacturers. He couldn't think of any. Granted
I went shopping for a compact car recently, and discovered that they are
all quite similar - especially their physical shape. This seems remarkable
in light of how much cars have varied over the years, and how people
supposedly are willing to pay extra for a distinctive car. (And given how
Fabio wrote:
Wouldn't it be easier to produce cheap cars if all models were similar
to each other? Ie, you wouldn't need to retool for every model - just
make some cosmetic changes and keep the cost low? I think that was the
idea behind the Ford Escort first, then other cars like the Hyndais
and
On Mon, 12 Aug 2002, fabio guillermo rojas wrote:
Wouldn't it be easier to produce cheap cars if all models were similar
to each other? Ie, you wouldn't need to retool for every model - just
make some cosmetic changes and keep the cost low? I think that was the
idea behind the Ford Escort
When I read this I thought that it must be wrong, since it is well
known that a sphere maximizes volume/area. However, if cars traveled
through tubes, this would be relevant. Cars, though, travel on
planar roads so that a square cross section does maximize interior
space. Longitudinal
In a message dated 8/12/02 2:42:35 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Wouldn't it be easier to produce cheap cars if all models were similar
to each other? Ie, you wouldn't need to retool for every model - just
make some cosmetic changes and keep the cost low? I think that was the
idea behind the
That makes sense for the cars all made by the same company, or which
share subcontractors. But Toyota, Honda, Subaru, and Ford all make cars
with virtually the same shape and layout.
Robin Hanson [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://hanson.gmu.edu
Among management theory/organizational sociology
In a message dated 8/12/02 4:18:25 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Or to rephrase in economic terms, risk averse managers prefer copying
a proven strategy (low risk/low payoff) than engaging in RD (high
payoff/high risk).
Fabio
That certainly looked true toward the end of the 1980s, when all
Having just bought a new car, I disagree that compact cars look
identical. The Honda Civic I settled on clearly looks like a Honda
Civic, and the Ford Focus and Hyundai Elantra I didn't buy each had its
own unmistakeable look. Even the new Toyota Corollas and Mazda Proteges
I've seen on the
Or to rephrase in economic terms, risk averse managers prefer copying
a proven strategy (low risk/low payoff) than engaging in RD (high
payoff/high risk).
reduce drag coefficients to increase fuel economy. The summer I sold cars
(1997 at a Pontiac-Mazda-Jeep-Eagle dealer) one of the
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