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Re: Well said!
Posted by Tim (more from Tim) on Sat, 2 Jun 2012 06:07:17
In Reply to: Re: Well said!, No Snaab , Fri, 1 Jun 2012 15:59:09
Even the mid-90's MB's with the 3.2liter V6 had already started Jurgen Shremp's "strategy" of making short service life cars. The 3.2 liter V6 from that era was known to have engine leak before warranty expiration, worse than even the GM tradition of lasting just long enough to avoid warranty service. I remember back a decade ago, many classified ads looked funny: 10+yrs old (1980's) MB's were asking twice as much as recent vintage (mid-90's) used MB's at the time.

IMHO, there are several factors contributing to the phenomenom:

1. Technology content of cars increased significantly in the last couple decades. That makes an old reliable car obsolete. Therefore the production cycle has to be much shorter.

2. The real disposable income among the upper-middle class in the West has been declining. The ultra-rich doesn't buy enough cars to matter for typical manufacturers other than makers of exotics. Therefore, the mainstream luxury carmakers have been moving down-market in the last two decades. The rising upper class in India and China face road conditions and labor environment that it makes sense to let their drivers deal with the traffic jams, so they don't really care much about cars besides the hood ornament and the back seat comfort. Besides, just about any car sells in those markets with scant competition from used cars; it will be a while before the car nuts among them appreciate long-term durability like Americans did during the 60's to 80's rise of Euro imports (if ever, see point 1 above).

3. With auto workers' wages cutting to $15/hr, while local mechanics charging $60/hr ($100+ at the dealership), at some point, cars might just become disposable appliances like TV's became in the 80's and 90's. Before then, there used to be local TV repair shops, and the family TV lasted a decade or longer.

posted by 75.67.1...
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