250,000 Units Per Year ?

[goofyone]

I PERSONALLY LOVE THREE WHEELED VEHICLES

AND I LOVE MOTORCYCLES

(and DOGS)

i have owned/driven over 35 three wheel vehicles in the past 62 years

people are always blown away when they see one going down the road !

this is NOT A NEW CONCEPT !!

we are all here because we have put down our hard-earned $ to order one of these unusual three wheeled vehicles..

i do NOT think AMERICANS will give up their SUV's until there is a CRISIS , and they are FORCED to !

I sincerely hope I am wrong ..

rainy day in the Caribbean, but still 84 degrees, off to Town on my Yamaha TW200

The good news is that Elio Motors does not need Americans to give up their SUV's as they are offering an inexpensive and fuel efficient new vehicle which some people need, some people want as a toy, some people will buy instead of a used vehicle, and yet others will want as a fuel efficient commuter vehicle to compliment their SUV. The truth is that even selling 250K new vehicles Elio Motors would only be a small part of the 16+ million new vehicle market in the USA. That would be only just over 1.5% of the new vehicle market in this country.

While 250K is not a small number it really is not that big of a number as far as vehicle sales are concerned and when we consider the potential export market that number actually looks even smaller.

 

[CompTrex]

The good news is that Elio Motors does not need Americans to give up their SUV's as they are offering an inexpensive and fuel efficient new vehicle which some people need, some people want as a toy, some people will buy instead of a used vehicle, and yet others will want as a fuel efficient commuter vehicle to compliment their SUV. The truth is that even selling 250K new vehicles Elio Motors would only be a small part of the 16+ million new vehicle market in the USA. That would be only just over 1.5% of the new vehicle market in this country.

While 250K is not a small number it really is not that big of a number as far as vehicle sales are concerned and when we consider the potential export market that number actually looks even smaller.

The previous message was not paid for or endorsed by any autocycle manufacturer or it's affiliates...

 

[Johnapool]

I PERSONALLY LOVE THREE WHEELED VEHICLES

AND I LOVE MOTORCYCLES

(and DOGS)

i have owned/driven over 35 three wheel vehicles in the past 62 years

people are always blown away when they see one going down the road !

this is NOT A NEW CONCEPT !!

we are all here because we have put down our hard-earned $ to order one of these unusual three wheeled vehicles..

i do NOT think AMERICANS will give up their SUV's until there is a CRISIS , and they are FORCED to !

I sincerely hope I am wrong ..

rainy day in the Caribbean, but still 84 degrees, off to Town on my Yamaha TW200

You may not realize that for many Americans, a crisis exists today. Income inequity has reduced the buying power of most Americans to almost zero. Folks are working all over this grand country for $8 to $10 per hour. The latest SUV offering from GM, the new Suburban and Tahoe, sell for around $60,000 and still guzzle fuel. Most Americans cannot afford most new cars on the market. I believe that is a market sitting and waiting for the Elio, along with the people who want something different and sporty.
Back when Toyotas and Datsuns were first marketed in the US, a lot of people thought like you, that they just wouldn't sell. Toyota has been one of, if not the, top-selling brands in the world for years now.
I sincerely hope you are wrong, too. My Elio addiction is getting worse every day!

 

[evboy]

In my younger days, I had the privilege of spending a year on the Ford Motor Company's assembly line. We were making 1969 Mercury cars and wagons, full-size, at the rate of 43 per hour. 1500 employees, two 10 hour shifts, turning out 860 cars a day. It would take 291 days like that to produce 250,000.
With a much simpler car surely many more per hour could be produced.
I do believe the logistics of producing 250,000 motor vehicles is a daunting job. Start-up involves a lot of ground-up facets, such as supply and delivery,
that will all have to flow smoothly to manufacture and distribute 685 vehicles a day, year-round.
That's why I'm gonna pick MY Elio up in Shreveport!

when you were working the assembly line, were you able to stop the line if you didnt have time to put your part in or were having trouble. How did it work.

 

[Jay3wheel]

In my younger days, I had the privilege of spending a year on the Ford Motor Company's assembly line. We were making 1969 Mercury cars and wagons, full-size, at the rate of 43 per hour. 1500 employees, two 10 hour shifts, turning out 860 cars a day. It would take 291 days like that to produce 250,000.
With a much simpler car surely many more per hour could be produced.
I do believe the logistics of producing 250,000 motor vehicles is a daunting job. Start-up involves a lot of ground-up facets, such as supply and delivery,
that will all have to flow smoothly to manufacture and distribute 685 vehicles a day, year-round.
That's why I'm gonna pick MY Elio up in Shreveport!

In 1969 they were working with zero computers. What were you doing working in a factory at the age of 8?

 

[evboy]

The $1000 upgrade to an auto trans in a $6800 vehicle seems a bit out of whack at 15% of the total cost. Did I read some time ago that it could be less? Perhaps more profit margin on the transmission than the car itself.

its not really out of wack because you will get alot of that back at resale because most people hate stick. Now the 1500 option for sensors around the car and cameras is 20% of the car and will be worth very little at resale. automatic is a need. sensors are a want. automatic is like a new kitchen in a house. 1500 technology option is like paying 5 grand extra for upstairs or downstairs in a condo unit.

 

[Johnapool]

when you were working the assembly line, were you able to stop the line if you didnt have time to put your part in or were having trouble. How did it work.

The line stopped only for lunch, or if a car fell off- sometimes drivers delivering parts nudged the large shelves too close to the turntable corner and the next car would be knocked off.There were relief men that could help you catch up but that was rare. The company had it broken down very well into pretty much fool-proof small operations that were simple and quick. They had time-study men timing tasks constantly. As the new model year got going and everyone learned their job well, they'd start adding a bit to each assembler and wipe out a man on the line.
These days, some robotic auto lines, engines, for example, are designed to skip operations should a stage cause a problem. A broken drill bit in a head bolt hole means that hole won't be threaded at the next station and a human will finish that hole after the block comes off the line.

 

[Johnapool]

In 1969 they were working with zero computers. What were you doing working in a factory at the age of 8?

Child labor

 

[TexasElio]

Good evening to everyone!

I've been reviewing the different topics posted on this forum for the last several days...lots of usefully information...

My thoughts for today...Mr Elio's goal of 250,000 annual units to make his project financially viable appears to an extremely optimistic sales goal at the least...for reference...Mazda only sold a total of 283,947 total units in the US in 2013...

Wow...250,000 unit is a huge number by any automotive standards...especially for a new manufacturer trying to introduce a untested product segment...

So...let's examine current Elio reservation data...

Here's interesting way to analyze the current Elio reservation statistics...

Elio Motors has been aggressively soliciting vehicle pre-orders for the last 24 months...

They currently have appropriately 37,500 (give or take) advance orders...

So...that averages out to approximately 18,750 pre-orders a year...

Mr. Elio has publicly indicated they need to ramp up to a production number of 250,000 units a year to make this project viable...

250,000 annual units...and subtracting 37,500 total of 2 years of pre-order units...and assuming every reservation holder takes delivery...(and you know that will never occur)...that still leaves at least 212,500 available units on a yearly basis...

Bottom line...there seems to be questionable consumer demand for 250,000 Elio Vehicles...

Any thoughts?

 

[Truett Collins]

Once the Elio is on the road we will see order's increase....just check out all the comments on the face book page of "I want one but will not order one till they are on the road".