Gustavo:
I think the technology is available to make cars last longer and that
manufacturers do not make them last longer because they would make lower
profits. Who would want a car that would last 20 years? Long before it
wore out, various components in it would be obsolete or out of date with
regulations. (It would also go out of fashion, too.)
This is the problem with communications and other satellites that have
long lives. The owners often choose to replace them long before they
wear out because such better models have become avialable in the
interim.
Yours,
Asa Janney
"Gustavo Lacerda (from work)" wrote:
>
> Claim: "auto manufacturers won't make cars that last long (say, 20 years of
> reliable operation) because they would make less money that way".
>
> Your opinion?
>
> Is the technology for reliable vehicles feasible for mass production? Would
> there be enough demand for such vehicles (i.e. the profit margin per vehicle
> is big enough to offset the loss due to fewer sales)?
>
> Gustavo
--
If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because
he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears,
however measured or far away.
-- Henry David Thoreau, Walden
