5 ms·

Your base assumption seems to include that quality is valuable for its own sake. I don't totally disagree, but I'm wary of assigning value based on effort rathe

Your base assumption seems to include that quality is valuable for its own sake. I don't totally disagree, but I'm wary of assigning value based on effort rather than output. Depending on why you are buying a car, the Accord is very likely much better bang for the buck than the S-class Mercedes. And depending on the situation, the prototype is often better value than the shippable product.

ChrisMarshallNY 6y ago
You are exactly correct. That is why Honda is a bigger company than Mercedes. They do decent quality (Hondas cost more than Kias), but at scale. I worked for a "Mercedes-level" photographic equipment company for years. People were often quite surprised, when I told them the size of the company. It was like Roadhouse "I thought you'd be bigger." Our prototypes were incredibly expensive. A $2,000 (retail) body prototype would be insured at half a million bucks. I just find, in my experience, managers expect Mercedes-level quality, for Kia (not even Honda) prices, and (if you are lucky) mature Honda assembly line development speed. That can lead to real Jurassic-scale disasters. If you want that level of quality, you need to plan for it. I'm working on the app that I'm doing, because I was helping a friend of mine evaluate contractors for his dream. The promises they made were absurd. After a couple of these, I just said "Screw it. I'll do it for you." He'll be getting Mercedes quality, but he'll need to wait a bit longer for it. I am pretty good at doing damn good; damn fast. But he also won't be paying a dime for it, so I think he's good with that.
- perl4ever 6y ago
  >That is why Honda is a bigger company than Mercedes I was curious if this was accurate. Here are some recent numbers for revenue and unit sales: Honda -> $144B revenue - 12.4M motorcycles, ATVs, etc. - 3.3M automobiles - 5.7M generators, small engines, etc. Daimler -> $207B revenue - 2.4M automobiles - 0.5M trucks - 0.4M vans - 0.03M buses So, Daimler seems to be about 40% larger in revenue, but Honda sells almost 40% more automobiles. But 2.4M automobiles for Daimler seems like it's still comparable in scale. Honda seems to still be largely a motorcycle and small engine company, in the global picture, while Daimler has a substantial business in heavy duty commercial vehicles including nameplates that aren't necessarily associated with Mercedes by the average person.
  - ChrisMarshallNY 6y ago
    Good point. I was thinking cars, but Europe seems to have every cab as a Mercedes. That's a lot of cars.

ChrisMarshallNY 6y ago

You are exactly correct. That is why Honda is a bigger company than Mercedes. They do decent quality (Hondas cost more than Kias), but at scale. I worked for a "Mercedes-level" photographic equipment company for years. People were often quite surprised, when I told them the size of the company. It was like Roadhouse "I thought you'd be bigger." Our prototypes were incredibly expensive. A $2,000 (retail) body prototype would be insured at half a million bucks. I just find, in my experience, managers expect Mercedes-level quality, for Kia (not even Honda) prices, and (if you are lucky) mature Honda assembly line development speed. That can lead to real Jurassic-scale disasters. If you want that level of quality, you need to plan for it. I'm working on the app that I'm doing, because I was helping a friend of mine evaluate contractors for his dream. The promises they made were absurd. After a couple of these, I just said "Screw it. I'll do it for you." He'll be getting Mercedes quality, but he'll need to wait a bit longer for it. I am pretty good at doing damn good; damn fast. But he also won't be paying a dime for it, so I think he's good with that.

perl4ever 6y ago
>That is why Honda is a bigger company than Mercedes I was curious if this was accurate. Here are some recent numbers for revenue and unit sales: Honda -> $144B revenue - 12.4M motorcycles, ATVs, etc. - 3.3M automobiles - 5.7M generators, small engines, etc. Daimler -> $207B revenue - 2.4M automobiles - 0.5M trucks - 0.4M vans - 0.03M buses So, Daimler seems to be about 40% larger in revenue, but Honda sells almost 40% more automobiles. But 2.4M automobiles for Daimler seems like it's still comparable in scale. Honda seems to still be largely a motorcycle and small engine company, in the global picture, while Daimler has a substantial business in heavy duty commercial vehicles including nameplates that aren't necessarily associated with Mercedes by the average person.
- ChrisMarshallNY 6y ago
  Good point. I was thinking cars, but Europe seems to have every cab as a Mercedes. That's a lot of cars.