Car manufacturers incorporate a variety of measures to cut down the manufacturing and production cost of their cars to increase profit. However, some of them are unnecessary, as such, here are the top 10 cost-cutting measures used by carmakers.
Space-saver Wheels: As the name suggests, a space-saver is a smaller spare tyre. Though these spare tyres improve the boot space, they are only good for travelling short distances at limited speeds.
Integrated Headrests: Though integrated headrests may look sporty, they often do not provide good support. Also, the lack of adjustment mechanisms means that seats with integrated headrests are cheaper as well.
Bad Quality Rear-View Camera: Rear-view cameras in some cars offer very poor visibility even during day time. This is a very annoying cost-cutting measure by car manufacturers by opting for a cheaper rear-view camera.
Undersized Tyres: Most car manufacturers equip their lower variants with smaller tyres and wheels. These smaller tyres and wheels not only look cheap, but they can also negatively impact the dynamics of the vehicle.
Single-side Request Sensor: This is a very common cost-cutting measure adopted by car manufacturers by equipping request sensor only on the driver’s door. This is a very annoying cost-cutting measure.
Ordinary Spare Key: Having an ordinary spare key can be very annoying if the primary key of the car is not working as many functions will become inaccessible to the user.
Inadequate Insulation: Car manufacturers are now reducing the insulation in new cars to further reduce production costs. Since these insulations are out of sight, many car makers have adopted this cost-cutting measure across their model range.
Rear Wiper: Many car manufacturers are not even offering rear wipers and washers on the top-spec variants. However, this is a very essential feature during long drives and rainy conditions.
Shared Components: Though shared components may not be a bad thing from an engineering perspective, it somehow feels annoying especially if the car features more than a few shared components from a cheaper model.
Outdated Gearbox: If a new car features a 4-speed automatic gearbox in the year 2023, it means the manufacturer has not bothered to develop a new gearbox for the car, which is an annoying cost-cutting measure to sport in a new car.
Though cost-cutting is a bad thing, some of the measures adopted by car manufacturers in the name of cost-cutting can be very annoying to the end user. As such, manufacturers must understand the difficulties faced by the end user before adopting any particular cost-cutting measure.
