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Re: Tesla - at least in the early days, they did the same thing a lot of boutique manufacturers did: https://www.theautopian.com/how-tesla-engineers-saved-milli

Re: Tesla - at least in the early days, they did the same thing a lot of boutique manufacturers did: https://www.theautopian.com/how-tesla-engineers-saved-millions-on-the-model-s-by-flipping-parts-upside-down/ https://www.theautopian.com/how-tesla-engineers-saved-millio... Re: "global manufacturing" - yeah, but there's also a choice being made there. I own an older BMW, and there's been a very clear shift away from what was once a differentiated product to a kind of blah middle-object, which is almost certainly in pursuit of a larger market share, but again, that's a choice. I could tell you what the value prop of a BMW made between 1975 and 2005 was, I can't really tell you what it is now, and that's a choice it seems like a lot of manufacturers are making.

eslaught 3y ago
> value prop of a BMW made between 1975 and 2005 I'd be curious for someone to explain what this is, and what happened in 2005 that changed this.
- roughly 3y ago
  For a very long time, BMW's cars were intentionally driver-centric - if you got a BMW, you were getting a car that was luxurious and well built, sure, but more than that, was just sublime to drive in a way the spec sheets don't capture. The handling, steering, suspension feel, engine and transmission, everything combined for something that was engaging and genuinely fun to drive, but didn't sacrifice actual daily usability. That was their sales pitch: Want luxury? Grab a Benz. Care about the actual driving experience? Here's your car. I really don't know what happened after 2005, and it wasn't overnight, but the general driving experience of the cars has declined every generation since then - steering's gotten a bit more numb, suspension's not quite as communicative, engine noises are more muffled, and they just seemed to lose the thread over the years. I'm not sure if some of it was leaning into technology at the expense of the driving experience, but aside from the one or two models per generation that still have some of the old soul, they really don't seem to know what their sales pitch is anymore.

eslaught 3y ago

> value prop of a BMW made between 1975 and 2005 I'd be curious for someone to explain what this is, and what happened in 2005 that changed this.

roughly 3y ago
For a very long time, BMW's cars were intentionally driver-centric - if you got a BMW, you were getting a car that was luxurious and well built, sure, but more than that, was just sublime to drive in a way the spec sheets don't capture. The handling, steering, suspension feel, engine and transmission, everything combined for something that was engaging and genuinely fun to drive, but didn't sacrifice actual daily usability. That was their sales pitch: Want luxury? Grab a Benz. Care about the actual driving experience? Here's your car. I really don't know what happened after 2005, and it wasn't overnight, but the general driving experience of the cars has declined every generation since then - steering's gotten a bit more numb, suspension's not quite as communicative, engine noises are more muffled, and they just seemed to lose the thread over the years. I'm not sure if some of it was leaning into technology at the expense of the driving experience, but aside from the one or two models per generation that still have some of the old soul, they really don't seem to know what their sales pitch is anymore.