Borrow $240 Mil, Or Borrow Alot Less And Start Out Slow?

[Smitty901]

ELIO needs to open up shop and start building the darn thing one at a time by hand if they have to. Start delivering them.
Line the shop floor with anyone they have that can do the work.
Nothing investor hate more than someone that does it with out them, if they see the ELIO on the road they are likely to jump in.

 

[archer5013]

Smitty 901 wrote: "start building the darn thing one at a time by hand if they have to"

They've already done that - three times.
Now, however, at half a million dollars a pop (P-4, for example), building cars by hand has no functional purpose: doesn't accomplish developing an assembly line or producing -any- marketable product - and skips the next phase of development altogether (building the series of Evaluation prototypes).

 

[Smitty901]

Smitty 901 wrote: "start building the darn thing one at a time by hand if they have to"

They've already done that - three times.
Now, however, at half a million dollars a pop (P-4, for example), building cars by hand has no functional purpose: doesn't accomplish developing an assembly line or producing -any- marketable product - and skips the next phase of development altogether (building the series of Evaluation prototypes).

No they have not. What they built were prototypes that do not even have the engine in them. They are for show. ELIO needs to put them in owners hands.
On the road going to the store to work to the beach. One at a time two what ever it takes . They wore out they run around a show one off thing it hit a dead end time to up the game of lose it all.
Get a few of them on the road then what the interest grow.

 

[archer5013]

No they have not. What they built were prototypes that do not even have the engine in them. They are for show. ELIO needs to put them in owners hands.
On the road going to the store to work to the beach. One at a time two what ever it takes . They wore out they run around a show one off thing it hit a dead end time to up the game of lose it all.
Get a few of them on the road then what the interest grow.

The reason why I suggested "They've already done that - three times" is that Technosports Creative (the manufacturer of the 3 prototypes) ... has demonstrated what it costs to build limited edition cars "by hand".

So if you can demonstrate to us how to productively implement such a scheme, by all means get on with it.

 

[Rickb]

The reason why I suggested "They've already done that - three times" is that Technosports Creative (the manufacturer of the 3 prototypes) ... has demonstrated what it costs to build limited edition cars "by hand".

So if you can demonstrate to us how to productively implement such a scheme, by all means get going on it.

Here's an idea. Raise the base price from $6800 to $68,000.

 

[John Painter]

Here's an idea. Raise the base price from $6800 to $68,000.

That ain't gonna happen. Now $9,800 I might get talked into that.

 

[WilliamH]

When you start casually jacking the base price by almost 45% it sounds like you're loosing sight of the original purpose of the car.
It was supposed to be affordable for people on very limited income. 35 hr/wk X $8 /hr X52 is about $14,560 a year before taxes. Once you reach that level you're getting away from the affordable paradigm for someone who has to get to work, pay rent, pay insurance, eat, and pay sales taxes on it. Not to mention the senior citizens on a subsistence level SS benefit that need transportation.
I'm thinking at $9800 list, you're really talking about 8% sales tax and maybe $600 delivery charge for a total of $11,184.
You might want to seriously rethink your 45% price increase.

 

[Rickb]

That ain't gonna happen. Now $9,800 I might get talked into that.

The cost increase was directed to Smitty901 hand built comment. a couple hundred over the target price is understandable and even expected, but not much more.

 

[John Painter]

The cost increase was directed to Smitty901 hand built comment. a couple hundred over the target price is understandable and even expected, but not much more.

Smitty!

 

[John Painter]

When you start casually jacking the base price by almost 45% it sounds like you're loosing sight of the original purpose of the car.
It was supposed to be affordable for people on very limited income. 35 hr/wk X $8 /hr X52 is about $14,560 a year before taxes. Once you reach that level you're getting away from the affordable paradigm for someone who has to get to work, pay rent, pay insurance, eat, and pay sales taxes on it. Not to mention the senior citizens on a subsistence level SS benefit that need transportation.
I'm thinking at $9800 list, you're really talking about 8% sales tax and maybe $600 delivery charge for a total of $11,184.
You might want to seriously rethink your 45% price increase.

Not that any of this makes any difference to Elio Motors at the moment. That would be a very, low income to afford virtually any private vehicle. I work with people who are frequently (though not exclusively) at the lower end of the socioeconomic scale, and I've seen vehicle ownership at that income level more a path to the bottom than to the top. Often times things like education and skill development for a desired job market need to be addressed before incurring the debt and ongoing costs and responsibilities of private vehicle ownership. That said, I have also seen people who improved their marketability, and a vehicle allowed them to travel to areas where there were significantly better paying jobs which negated the additional cost of private transportation, child care, etc when they no longer qualified for TANF, more complex schedules to accomplish what they need to maintain their new economic level, etc. Also, the difference between $6800 and $9800 is 36% (I would just go with MSRP as point for discussion since taxes and delivery will vary quite a bit) but I don't have to rethink that since Elio Motors will set their vehicles price, not me.