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You are assuming (edit: actually you aren't, see below) that the car manufacturers are producing these parts themselves. It is a lot more complicated for Daimle
by lqet 7y ago
You are assuming (edit: actually you aren't, see below) that the car manufacturers are producing these parts themselves. It is a lot more complicated for Daimler to produce plastic parts for ventilators (for example) if small plastic parts in Daimler cars have been produced in China for the last 25 years and delivered just-in-time to the assembly line in Stuttgart.
- helij 7y agoEurope is full of plastic moulding factories, big and small. Capability is there. Not everything is made in China. My friend has a small plastic moulding factory back home with 15 machines and his father is a tool maker. They themselves could produce 50,000 plastic parts a day if needed.
- smoyer 7y ago"(or more likely one of their suppliers)" I don't think I was assuming that ... but your point is valid. Certain car parts have indeed been the same for a long period of time. You'd certainly want to avoid the suppliers that are resistant to change or that have historically taken many iterations to get to the point where they can produce 10s and 100s of millions consistently. There are however manufacturers that specialize in smaller runs and more precision (two within 20 minutes of where I type this which is NOT considered a traditional manufacturing area). I'd be willing to bet those managing the supply chain for the car companies know exactly which type of company is which (where do their engineering departments have short-run prototypes made?)