Automotive Trivia Question

idsman75

Okay you automotive buffs. I have a trivia question that is guaranteed to stump you. I want to pre-text this question with the knowledge that I got the answer from a "Professor Emeritus" from a very good local private college.

Fact: The largest individual expense involved in manufacturing a Japanese car is STEEL.

Question: What is the largest individual expense involved in the manufacture of an American car?

DancesWithSheep

Union workers.

Ray B

Seeing as they steel all the R&D, I can understand why they would have a material that they have to get from abroad as their highest cost. For US cars, I'd guess R&D, since we have no one to steel it from, 'ceptng maybe the Germans.

jnmiller75

I think DWS is right. Labor is probably the most expensive.

Laredo Lefty

Product liability insurance.

Joe
"Never let school interfere with your education"

will270win

Taxes?

"When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is not our friend."
~Secret Select Society Of Suave Stylish Smoking Jackets~

Jimmy Boss

Saftey Equipment and testing?

JBoss......Fear No Fish/peace through superior firepower/The gun manufacturers are not making a dangerous product.
Bad parents are.

sweaver

Recalls?

burner

Electronics going into the cars

duckhunter

labor

I WOULD RATHER BE DUCK HUNTING.

haroldchrismeyer

Pay to the retired worker.

Red223

Plastic.

cacti25

commericals.

diver-rig

law suits

the voices in my head don't scare me. it's only when they stop that i get a little nervous.

Lexm

Advertising?

select-fire

EPA approval.

firstharmonic

Labor. Not just at the final assembly point, but from all the component suppliers as well.

Noli Illegitimi Carborundum

nocages

wire




God Speed With All Of Our Troops~

old single shots

Probably the steel they import from Japan.

ZERODIN

Labor plus benefits. Pension, health-care, etc.

Lawsuits? No way, don't be silly. Automakers file a lot of lawsuits, but it'd be silly to think that they're on the losing end of massive products liability judgments often enough to even care.

I'm sticking with labor and benefits.

idsman75

ZERODIN hit it but DWS got closest first. The single most expensive component in building an American vehicle is health care.

mudge

Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

Mudge the precise

I can't come to work today. The voices said, STAY HOME AND CLEAN THE GUNS!<BR>

guntech59

Originally posted by mudge
Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

Mudge the precise

....and atom bombs!

Phil

I learn something new everyday.

Mr Gee

my 1st thought was plastic too as Red223 has mentined, maybe the Robots, tires, an overtime[:)]



confused....but learning

TexasVet

I was told by a Ford Factory foreman that the biggest cost was fasteners (nuts & bolts). Guess he forgot about health care.
Of course, in Detroit they have the Henry Ford HMO's that they own, along with hospitals, hotels and museums, etc.

ZERODIN

quote:Originally posted by mudge
Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

...and $417 fights.

Texas_Shooter

Steel. And probably imported from Japan

"I won't be wronged, I won't be insulted, and I won't be laid a hand on. I don't do these things to other people and I expect the same from them." - John Wayne

mateomasfeo

Cocaine





Mateomasfeo

"I am what I am!" - Popeye

Fishnshoot

Benefits for workers.

Dangit!! Know I read that someone else got it. I'm a huge car buff, but I only know that because I'm an accountant.

gruntled

When I was on the Chrysler assembly line it took 2000 people to make 384 cars a day. Wages at that time were $3/hr so that would work out to about $125/car. Wages are far higher now but so too are the price of cars & I am sure they have improved the production rate per worker since then.
Still I can't see how the health benefits could ever be higher than the labor costs, that doesn't make sense.