Re: Catering to used car buyers-parts

["Scott M." <scottmo@teleport.com>]

Someone said:

> > I think it important to remember that any car
manufacturer has the
> > advantage in producing OEM parts.  They have already
paid to gear up for production.  To stock their used parts
line, all they have to do is run
> > their manufacturing line at the time of original
production for so many
> > extra months and warehouse the extra inventory.  

Huw added:
> Except that the tooling wears out, and they need their
factory space for
> current production.  It's a heck of a lot cheaper to make
10,000 (or
> 100,000!) of something while it's current than to dig up
a bunch of old
> tools, figure out how to use them again, and make 100
pieces at a time.

Well, I don't really think that Audi AG makes very many of
the parts that go into the final vehicle. The exception
being the sheet metal parts that I have personally seen
stamped out at the Neckersulm and Igolstadt plants and most
likely the complete Engines/Transmissions/Differentials 
made in Austria/Neckersulm and  ??

European/UK listmembers can likely add some
reality/corrections to these statements. For the most part
I would imagine that Audi contracts with outside vendors to
produce the individual parts for just about everything.
Engine parts may be an exception, but they may  source the
block, pistons, rods, bearings from other vendors and could
possibly do the final machining.  My experience with large
corporations that build products with thousands of parts
makes me believe that they usually contract out the
manufacturing of items that don't fit their expertise or
core competency. Usually during production, prices per unit
are based on an expected volume per year and any deviation
from these numbers over time usually results in a new
negotiation for a higher price, typically as the volume
goes down. 

Compounding this is the constant need by some manufactures
to re-invent the wheel every few years as they shove out
new models with little re-use of old designs and the need
to have completely new parts. God, when I worked at Nissan
as a repair tech it boggled the mind every year with all
the changes.

In some ways, Audi actually has done a decent job of
re-using parts from earlier models when I think of other
manufacturers. Of course with all the pressure for light
weight cars and fuel efficiency and emission standards and
new styles,  it gets harder every year to re-use older
designs and existing tooling. Even if the manufacturer
originally made the parts during production, they will
likely sell the tooling and farm out the production of
these parts to some outside vendor after the vehicle is
phased out of production.

Just my $0.02
Cheers
Scott Mo.