Quote Originally Posted by orly_andico View Post
But sheet metal on a small scale has no repeatability.. unless you have the necessary pressing equipment, you have to resort to an army of panel-beaters. And their output won't be repeatable (or scalable).
If you still resort to an army of panel beaters (lateros) like a lot of the local carmakers, then you can't have a decent presentable PhUV. Even Henry Ford used stamping machines for the body panels used in his Model T's during the early 1900's.

For CONSISTENCY (is that the word you are looking for, orly?) and COST-EFFECTIVENESS, sheetmetal is still the best material. Believe me- the car companies have experimented with alternative materials since the 1970's (remember the disastrous plastic-bodied PONTIAC FIERO?). They have always come back to the good old reliable.

Most importantly, would the market accept a car whose body is made out of bamboo or coconut fibre? It's a recipe for FINANCIAL DISASTER if you ask me.