4 ms·

If I were an exec at a car company I would try to hold out as long as possible selling ICE vehicles. The differentiators that justify all the r&d, marketing and

If I were an exec at a car company I would try to hold out as long as possible selling ICE vehicles. The differentiators that justify all the r&d, marketing and bureaucracy of a huge motor company just won't be there for the EV market. We're moving towards a market where cars are much more commoditized. I imagine we will move towards a few companies creating crash-safe bodies that then get outfitted by lean "OEM"s that put the right size battery in, the right kind of leather seats, puts their badge on it and calls it good. Existing car companies are too big for this kind of market, so they might as well go out doing what they're actually good at.

ohazi 8y ago
> If I were an exec at a car company I would try to hold out as long as possible selling ICE vehicles. This is basically Mazda's strategy.
- ticmasta 8y ago
  although in Mazda's case they are working on some potentially very profitable upgrades that do not take the same commitment to long-term R&D, like their compression ignition engine: https://www.just-auto.com/analysis/mazda-bets-big-on-revolutionary-new-petrol-engine_id185659.aspx https://www.just-auto.com/analysis/mazda-bets-big-on-revolut... Selling an EV to an ICE customer is hard; selling 30%+ better fuel efficiency is easy.
- tonyedgecombe 8y ago
  And Fiat, their chairman said they would rather be late than wrong.
floatrock 8y ago
> I imagine we will move towards a few companies creating crash-safe bodies that then get outfitted by lean "OEM"s that put the right size battery in, the right kind of leather seats, puts their badge on it and calls it good. That's exactly VW's MEB platform. "Volkswagen wants other automakers to use its MEB electric platform": https://electrek.co/2019/02/04/volkswagen-meb-electric-platform-automakers/ https://electrek.co/2019/02/04/volkswagen-meb-electric-platf... They're using it for a Golf-sized compact, a sedan, a crossover, and the VW bus reboot. Now they're also marketing it to other manufacturers.

ohazi 8y ago

> If I were an exec at a car company I would try to hold out as long as possible selling ICE vehicles. This is basically Mazda's strategy.

ticmasta 8y ago
although in Mazda's case they are working on some potentially very profitable upgrades that do not take the same commitment to long-term R&D, like their compression ignition engine: https://www.just-auto.com/analysis/mazda-bets-big-on-revolutionary-new-petrol-engine_id185659.aspx https://www.just-auto.com/analysis/mazda-bets-big-on-revolut... Selling an EV to an ICE customer is hard; selling 30%+ better fuel efficiency is easy.
tonyedgecombe 8y ago
And Fiat, their chairman said they would rather be late than wrong.

floatrock 8y ago

> I imagine we will move towards a few companies creating crash-safe bodies that then get outfitted by lean "OEM"s that put the right size battery in, the right kind of leather seats, puts their badge on it and calls it good. That's exactly VW's MEB platform. "Volkswagen wants other automakers to use its MEB electric platform": https://electrek.co/2019/02/04/volkswagen-meb-electric-platform-automakers/ https://electrek.co/2019/02/04/volkswagen-meb-electric-platf... They're using it for a Golf-sized compact, a sedan, a crossover, and the VW bus reboot. Now they're also marketing it to other manufacturers.