Tsikot.ph PHUV Prototype

[OyiL]

I am based here in Ayutthaya, Thailand and I work as a Cost Control Engineer at one of the major car manufacturers.

My posts here are certainly relevant to the topic. The cost targets of an automobile has a definite effect on the final outcome of the vehicle, including its esthetic design. As in the case of the PhUV, P350,000 has been determined as the price ceiling.

It seems that many of your posters like Oyil have contributed high-tech renderings of the PhUV without regard to the manufacturing capabilities of the local automotive companies and the costs involved with some of the components that need to be custom made for the PhUV. The truth is with cars, BEAUTY comes at a price.

To cite an example, the headlight assembly of the 2007 HONDA Civic above costs $187.12/unit. That is for an expected production run of 4,000,000 Civics x 2 = 8,000,000 headlights. To custom-manufacture the headlight assembly for the PhUV, which would have a rather small production run of about 50,000 headlights, would push the cost at least $450/unit x 2 or about P42,000. Therefore, the PhUV will have to use headlights lifted from other vehicles to save cost.

This would hold true for all the other component parts like the grill, taillights, windshields, dashboard, etc. (This is a big reason why ultra-low volume carmakers like Aston Martin and Lamborghini are so damn expensive.)

In the end, the PhUV will have to use mostly off-the-shelf parts and would not look different from the past AUV projects that have been undertaken.

Creating a world-class automobile is simply impossible given the economic constraints of the PhUV. No amount of nationalistic chest-thumping can change that. Neither Toyota nor GM can make a decent car at P350,000. And that is the situation the Philippine car project is in.

I only speak the TRUTH. And sometimes it can hurt.

you are right about the cost.
But who's expecting a sports car? are you? Our PhUV is not meant to compete with the big boys in terms of style. its supposed to be a utility vehicle. not for export.

yes the renders are hight tech(<-- thank you. just realized the big boys noticed, ha! that's one of the high tech parts of the tsikot-PhUV project).."some" of the sketches are dreams(--> have you thought of that?)...but we are aware of what can be done and what our local people is capable of.

since you are in the auto industry, it would be much better if you can help this project. rather than put it down, comment on the design and advise on where you think changes should be made.

you are working for a big boy and it seems that you are intersted. how did you get to know about this thread?