Manufacturing Rate

[slinches]

EM is trying to sell more Elio's than Smart was trying to sell. So how big is this commuter niche anyways? That's the $64k question.

Roughly 128 Million people in the US commute to work by car and 76% of those do so alone. That means there are just short of 100 million people in the single occupant commuter "niche"

 

[RUCRAYZE]

This is a silly blanket statement. Most? It's a threshold issue. What is too small and what is not?
Frankly Aprilia, you obviously feel the car is too small to drive, why the heck are you here?

I do agree, given an equal choice Americans want bigger. But avoiding it completely is a stretch. And things are not equal. There is definitely a notable number who remain skeptical about size, including my wife. But plenty who are all for it.

EM has been very astute to the size issue since the Smart car. IMHO, they have tucked a couple extra inches on to the Elio just for that reason. More than I would have wanted to.

If the organization feels the safety issue has been met to a legal level, and the car makes budget sense, even reluctant employees will have to give it a try. For the most part, they don't have that kind of choice. Now the question is once they try it, how then will they feel? Will the euphoria from center seating make a difference? It does for some. Ridding the diamond lane? Easer parking?

Organizations will definitely give one or two a try. Then decide about more. I'm optimistic about that result.
IS the car too small or not? This is why I hang out at the Elio shows for 4 to 6 hours when I can. To see how people are. Most people getting sit-in demos seem pretty darn happy with it. I used to watch people do the same thing at the Smart car dealership we had in Mesa (yes doing research for my Atlantric). Some people definitely were shying from the size (and don't as often from the Elio) and some people were there because of the size.
My conclusion? At least 4 times as many people (by percentage of viewers) react to the Smart-Car size compared to the Elio once they sit in it. You have to also consider that the Smart context were people going in to see a Smart and Elio were partly people who happened to be there.

There were plenty of people who say the Elio is surprisingly big inside. I didn't hear much of that talk for the Smart.

What I see is a high percentage of acceptance after experiencing the Elio. The rest will only accept a Hummer.

you're putting out too much juice for this guy, his mission seems to yank cords. He is knowledgable about the E, other needs seem to get in the way- yesterday I thought he threatened to leave -today is looking good

 

[RUCRAYZE]

"Who" are cool, hand up for Jackson

 

[Coss]

"Who" are cool, hand up for Jackson

Me Me Me I saw his show twice at the Seattle Center and met him after the show, very cool dude

 

[AriLea]

Roughly 128 Million people in the US commute to work by car and 76% of those do so alone. That means there are just short of 100 million people in the single occupant commuter "niche"

:-) And if EM tries to supply 5% of those with a 240k production rate, how many years will it take? Around 20 more or less. I' not worried about EM having enough actual sales.

 

[Sethodine]

As for Elio...250K annual units is certainly an aggressive projection for a unproven niche vehicle...

Your FACE is an aggressive projection for an unproven niche.

 

[AriLea]

you're putting out too much juice for this guy, his mission seems to yank cords. He is knowledgable about the E, other needs seem to get in the way- yesterday I thought he threatened to leave -today is looking good

Sometimes (just sometimes) I don't mind. It gives a chance to address these issues for others, who are just doing web searches.
As we respond to the points made, in effect the trolls are helping us crush them, but for outsiders more than ourselves.
And you have to admit it broadens your knowledge base.
However the one item I don't like is going over the same stupid mis-fact a million times.
Anyway it only takes one good and logical summarization to quell foolishness.

 

[Rickb]

A $6800 comuter vehicle............big niche.........meeting the needs of many demographics.

A PM to EM........Prove it by getting it to production! I know they monitor this forum daily to find out how we think they are doing.

 

[slinches]

I don't need EM to prove anything as far as market size goes. Even a cursory review of the numbers indicates that the demand is there to meet the 250k/year rate with substantial room to grow. The only thing left to prove is whether they can successfully execute production and marketing well enough to fill that demand.

 

[Muzhik]

I must address the thought, EM is trying to sell more Elio's than Smart was trying to sell. So how big is this commuter niche anyways? That's the $64k question.

$64,000? Gee, that's at least 9 Elios; maybe 3 Smart Cars if you gave up some of the options, like six-speaker stereo.