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Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant until 2022

reuters.com

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Re: Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant until 2022

#81

Post by neogodless »

88840-8855 wrote: post #17

Edit: Too many downvotes for my view that this Opel case is yet another symptom of the wrong handling of the panedmic by any governments, leading to inflation and supply chain disruptions. If opinions are downvoted then I do not need to participate.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

> Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading.

However many downvotes you may have gotten initially, most of them are now for this reason.

To the original comment, what exactly was the role of government handling in the automotive industries mishandling of their chip supply chain? How did these automotive industry missteps lead to inflation?

Re: Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant until 2022

#82

Post by jacquesm »

asdff wrote: post #50
usmannk wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't imagine anyone would want the car you described, for market-sized values of "anyone"

Anyone driving a car thats older than 15 years old is already driving the car that OP is describing.

Mine's from 1997 so easily in that range.

Re: Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant until 2022

#83

Post by ricardobeat »

caeril wrote: post #70
clintonb wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the _market_ begging, or a few folks on the internet? The only folks I know that complain about technology in cars are a couple posters on internet forums.

Sure, lots of internet people who don't want to be tracked (license plate readers notwithstanding). But also plenty of IRL people complaining about how, for example, they miss their $10k pickup with no power anything that worked great for anytime they needed to haul material X from location M to N, but now you need to drop a minimum of $50k for a vehicle you might use once per weekend to haul gravel, insulation, ceme…

Assuming those memories are from the 70s, $10k then are worth about $50k today. Never mind the fact you’re also buying a much, much better vehicle in most aspects.

Re: Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant until 2022

#84

Post by pomian »

caeril wrote: post #21

What I'll never understand is why carmakers don't take advantage of this situation and address a market that's been literally BEGGING for decades for a new product: A simple, basic car, with the ONLY electronic control being for: - Valve timing - Fuel injection - Oxygen and throttle - Emissions There's a market for budget and privacy oriented customers that all carmakers seem to have ignored for two decades now. Give…

I like your idea. The only reason all those accessories are mandated, is because the car industry made it so, thus increasing the value (profit) of a standard car. We could just as easily 'mandate', a different class of vehicle. Call it a classic class, or something. For example, motorcycles don't have back up cameras, air bags, etc. Back to the consumer having a choice. Similar to right to repair.

Re: Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant until 2022

#85

Post by WaitWaitWha »

hristov wrote: post #71
caeril wrote: post #21

What I'll never understand is why carmakers don't take advantage of this situation and address a market that's been literally BEGGING for decades for a new product: A simple, basic car, with the ONLY electronic control being for: - Valve timing - Fuel injection - Oxygen and throttle - Emissions There's a market for budget and privacy oriented customers that all carmakers seem to have ignored for two decades now. Give…

First of all this "simple" car may end up being more expensive. Doing a lot of the things the old mechanical way requires a lot of labor and labor is expensive nowadays. Having to use turning wires and vacuum tubes for instrument clusters, and a bunch of pull wires for controls... Not only would that be expensive it would require skills and equipment long lost today. Oh and the wind shield wipers -- it is possible to…

That maybe true, but my anecdotal evidence is the opposite.

> cars used to break down much more often and require much more skilled maintenance.

My '78 John Deere 4640 (not a car I give you that) if it breaks down, I can fix it. If I cannot I can order the part. If I cannot, I can have the part made within a week.

None of that is possible with a 2021 6145M. If it breaks, I have to sit and wait for JD to bless me with their part.

I have less problems with non-electronic equipment than with the electronics enhanced ones.

I venture it is very much the same with personal cars.

Re: Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant until 2022

#86

Post by oh_sigh »

caeril wrote: post #21

What I'll never understand is why carmakers don't take advantage of this situation and address a market that's been literally BEGGING for decades for a new product: A simple, basic car, with the ONLY electronic control being for: - Valve timing - Fuel injection - Oxygen and throttle - Emissions There's a market for budget and privacy oriented customers that all carmakers seem to have ignored for two decades now. Give…

This is a surefire way to sell hundreds of cars. Yes, hundreds!

Re: Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant until 2022

#87

Post by neogodless »

paxys wrote: post #44

One thing that's going to come out of this crisis is cars being repriced as not just engine + wheels + seats but rather a consumer tech gadget. I expect prices to keep climbing well after supply chain issues have been solved. Piling on subscription pricing is next (and is already happening in a lot of cases).

I'm not following your chain of reasoning here.

Prices were climbing before the chip shortage, while "technology" (or specifically, features requiring computer chips) has increasingly been an important part of marketing strategy, differentiation and consumer focus in the automotive industry. (Anecdotally, I check reviews for how well they handle things like Android Auto/Apple CarPlay, and in-car software updates.)

The pricing could reflect a lot of things, including inflation, growing consumer wealth (or credit), consumers prioritizing automotive due to a variety of reasons including marketing/image, increased time spent commuting, etc.

What does this supply chain hiccup have to do with your hypothesis?

Re: Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant until 2022

#88

Post by oh_sigh »

asdff wrote: post #50
usmannk wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't imagine anyone would want the car you described, for market-sized values of "anyone"

Anyone driving a car thats older than 15 years old is already driving the car that OP is describing.

Then OP can just buy a used car that has low mileage. Also, with many of the features they list, if they break, then they're just broken. It would have no effect on you if you aren't using those features already. A broken seat with a warmer is just a regular seat.

Re: Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant until 2022

#89

Post by javanscala »

caeril wrote: post #21

What I'll never understand is why carmakers don't take advantage of this situation and address a market that's been literally BEGGING for decades for a new product: A simple, basic car, with the ONLY electronic control being for: - Valve timing - Fuel injection - Oxygen and throttle - Emissions There's a market for budget and privacy oriented customers that all carmakers seem to have ignored for two decades now. Give…

I believe backup cameras and TPMS systems are now mandatory for US cars, so some of the complexity is mandated at least for “production” vehicles.

Re: Chip shortage leads carmaker Opel to shut German plant until 2022

#90

Post by beamatronic »

caeril wrote: post #70
clintonb wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the _market_ begging, or a few folks on the internet? The only folks I know that complain about technology in cars are a couple posters on internet forums.

Sure, lots of internet people who don't want to be tracked (license plate readers notwithstanding). But also plenty of IRL people complaining about how, for example, they miss their $10k pickup with no power anything that worked great for anytime they needed to haul material X from location M to N, but now you need to drop a minimum of $50k for a vehicle you might use once per weekend to haul gravel, insulation, ceme…

I would love a stripped down 1990's-era Toyota truck

https://www.thedrive.com/news/42523/84-mile-1993-toyota-pick...

But not for 50k

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