I read an article recently that stated that newer cars don’t go over well in 3rd world countries because they don’t have the technitions to repair all the computerized parts and such. This is one of the reasons Cuba for example is still using '50s models cars, it said.
Sooooo, why not form a car company that used retro-technology (with minor pollution cosiderations) for these markets. I used to have a 1955 chevy that I could take the carb out, dis-assemble all 3 pieces, slap 'em back together and it ran like a top again.
The 3rd world is a big market.
Two questions:
I wouldn’t underestimate the resourcefulness of 3rd world car repairmen (if you can’t do the “t” word) . But what you suggest is sadly not new. It’s already happening - many of the cars you see in 3rd world countries have been imported (often smuggled) 2nd hand from rich countries. The trade in vehicles that no longer pass rich countries’ emissions standards is big. Lots of smoky old diesel buses and taxis went from Japan to SE Asia in the last decade or so. The trade in spare parts is big, too.
Nice try, but back to the entrepreneurial drawing board…
Damn ‘qwerty’ keyboard! The “t” is too damn close to the “c”!
Still, I’m not ready to throw in the towel just yet. Don’t you think that folks would rather have shiny new cars? And dealers would rather work above the law? (well, ok, maybe not…but some would) And if such a vehicle (the Stevemobile[sup]tm[/sup]) existed, maybe the governments might try mandating emmision standards.
Hell, I’d like to have a car like that. Cheap, easy to fix (you could even include a Chiltons-like manual with every car) with retro-styling. Might even sell a few state-side.
Eh?
I believe the original VW Bug is still being produced, for exactly the reasons stated in the OP. They wouldn’t be legal in the US, of course, because of safety regulations (i.e. no airbags, won’t pass crash tests). The original Mini is also still made, but that might be for niche markets like Japan.
warmgun, I’m with you on this one. Back in my ‘youth’ (late teens - early eighties), it was a regular thing to get a mate with a car that had a rusted out body, but good running gear, and transplant that into a similar model with a blown engine. Taught me all I need to know about running repairs etc…
Now, I open up the bonnet, and the things I’m ‘allowed’ to touch are colured bright yellow (Dipstick, radiator overflow tank, oil cap, power steer fluid - that’s about it) and the rest is mechanic (technician !!) only. Under that plastic housing cover is enough computer processing power to send a man to the moon and back.
And yet the second car (a 1985 Honda) only has EFI to screw me around.
And it don’t take a genius to figure which car costs more to keep on the road.
Now I live in a first world country - NZ (slowly slipping into second) - that doesn’t give a rats about what you pump into the atmosphere, and I certainly would be a goer if there was a mechanical car avaialable.
For the second car though, while I may not be able to service the first, sure wouldn’t want to lose the climate air, and all those other little luxurys.
I feel they would make a great first car (for the kid’s), and something for the guys who like to get oil under their fingernails.
As for third world countries, pass, but I ask, if you strip all the add-ons, will the car still go. I can only think of fuel injection/engine management failure requiring replacement with a carburettor.
It’s already been done. The Volkswagen ‘ur-beetle’ was originally designed in the 1930’s, and when it got obsolete in Europe they transfered production to Brazil and Mexico. In 1996 they stoped in Brazil, but still produced about 400 cars per day in Mexico.
You’re thinking backwards: you are proposing to produce a product in a country with high cost of labor, and then export it to a country with a lower cost of labor than the one where it was built. You’d do better financially to produce it in the second country to begin with. The transport charges alone for shipping a car from the US to, say, Africa would probably approach what many people in Africa make in a year, if not exceed it.
It all boils down to how much money people can make (-or as is often the case, are allowed to make) in any given place: if you’ve got enough money to make it worth their while, everyone with something to sell will come to you. - MC
Just not to confuse anyone about Mexico: there are also fully-modern cars manufactured there, too. Suburbans, Avalanches, Azteks (gack-gack), Escorts, Foci (Focuses?), Volkwagens, Nissans, Daimlers. And they’re sold and used there. On the other hand, Mexico’s not really 3d world, so maybe they don’t count.
. But what you suggest is sadly not new. It’s already happening - many of the cars you see in 3rd world countries have been imported (often smuggled) 2nd hand from rich countries. The trade in vehicles that no longer pass rich countries’ emissions standards is big. Lots of smoky old diesel buses and taxis went from Japan to SE Asia in the last decade or so. The trade in spare parts is big, too.