Quote:
Originally Posted by Dirty Harry
With the whole Coronavirus pandemic gripping the world. Does anyone else have that sinking feeling that the 2nd gen will be cancelled? Going by the Gloom and Doom news reports it looks like the economy is heading off a cliff. I hope I’m wrong but if there is a global recession and massive job losses, I can’t see a second gen coming along. The business case for a low volume sports car in such an environment would be a lot less viable.
I guess everyone enjoy their 1st gen for now and I hope everyone and their families stay healthy, that’s the most important thing.
Cheers. |
A lot depends on how far along the process they are. If they have already invested in tooling and signed contracts with the hundreds of parts suppliers they may as well move ahead and at least try to recoup their investments.
The auto manufacturing business is a bit different than what people think of as a manufacturing system. The car companies don't order parts on a weekly or monthly schedule based on what they are making. Parts are ordered for the whole (usually three year) planned production. Once the contract is signed then they are paying for those 3 years worth of parts whether they use them or not. There is no "just cancel the order" or "we actually only want half and that is all we are paying for". They either take the parts or pay massive penalties. When there are so many suppliers involved that can mean it can be cheaper to make the cars and then just scrap them than to not make them at all.