It could be because cars are, relatively, cheaper now than they used to be.
While it may have been economical in the past to produce things in
relatively small numbers, the car makers have now got making things cheaply
in large numbers down to such a fine art that there is a much bigger step up
in cost if something is to be made in limited numbers. But this is all just
theorising on my part, not a definitive answer!
What I do know is that, for many parts, much of the cost is in the
fabrication equipment, not the part. An example is sheet steel body panels
- a huge amount of the cost is in the presses - and they cost just as much
if you are making 1 or 10,000,000. This is why small-volume specialist
manufacturers such as Lotus and TVR use fibreglass body panels. Another
example is light lenses. Look closely at the rear light cluster on a Lotus
Esprit (pre face-lift of a year or two back) - the lenses are borrowed off
Toyota. When the Lotus Elise came out they did introduce a unique lens -
and used the same lens in 6 different places around the car (OK, I used to
work for Lotus, so I tend to know more about them than other
manufacturers!).
In any case, the big manufacturers are supplying a wide variety of cars
these days. Take VW - the same basic car is sold as a VW Golf (hatch &
estate), VW Bora, VW Beetle (hard top and convertible), Audi A3, Audi TT
(hard top and convertible), Skoda Octavia, Seat Leon, Seat Toledo. That's
even more variants than the Herald! The fact that these are selling in
large numbers shows only that they have got a successful model range, not
that they are running shy of producing cars in limited numbers for a niche
market.
Richard & Daffy
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