> I find it astounding that you can purchase *any* car from new at under 

> tags...

Most high-volume manufacturers have a small car that starts in the 7-8K 
price range (eg Peugeot 107, Ford Ka, Renault Clio etc).

> I always thought that this is why stuff is so much cheaper now. Not so 
> long ago, everything was made of metal, and it was all very expensive. 
> Today everything is made of plastic, and it's jaw-droppingly cheap. It's 
> such an obvious correlation that it seems almost self-evident that the 
> only possible explanation is that metal is expensive.

But when you buy something, the *material* costs are usually a tiny 
proportion of the cost.  Even something like a mouse or keyboard, the actual 
material is probably like 5p of plastic.  It's the designing, manufacturing 
process and assembly that costs the most money usually.

> If metal isn't expensive, why do they insist on making *everything* of 
> plastic? Even items that really *should* be made of metal?

Two main reasons plastics are used a lot in cars, firstly they are much 
lighter than the equivalent part made from metal (so will reduce fuel 
consumption and emissions), and secondly it's much easier (ie cheaper) to 
make complex curved shapes out of plastic than metal.  Imagine trying to 
make a car dashboard out of metal, and then what it would look and feel 
like.  Additionally, imagine trying to make the engine or suspension out of 
plastic...  Each material is suitable for certain things, the raw material 
cost is usually small enough that it doesn't come into the decision making 
process.

> But aren't cars rather like processors? Sure, it costs a lot to design 
> one, but once it's designed you can just go on churning out copies of it 
> forever.

Sure the same effect, but sales volumes of processor designs are orders of 
magnitudes higher than cars, and assembly costs are higher for cars.  So 
even if a processor and a car both cost $x billion to design, the processor 
will sell for $100 and the car for $10000.

> I mean, hell, when was the Ford Fiesta designed?

The current one?  Less than 7 years ago I would guess.  7 years is usually 
the maximum lifetime of car designs, because it takes that long to design a 
new one.

> And it's *still* on sale today! Surely they've more than recovered the 
> original design costs by now?

No, as Gilles said, it's just the name that's the same.  Typically Ford keep 
the same names for new cars, until something goes wrong (like with the 
Escort), then they make a new name.  It doesn't mean it's the same design.

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