Russian Auto Industry

Robert.V wrote:

kvs wrote:Maybe Russia can break out of the western racket.   The annual cosmetic redesign which serves no purpose is what drives the costs.
It is a trick to make getting replacement parts expensive.  So everyone is supposed to keep their car for only 4 years.   Russia can
"regress" to the actual good old days of the USSR.   Make the cars simpler and don't waste money on annual retooling.   Do it every
5 years or even long.   The proles will have to lump it.   It is tiresome to listen to how the "consumers drive the market".   BS.  Look
at mass media and entertainment.   The precious consumers eat the shit that they are dished out.

Bad, idea.  Soviet stagnated their Automobile manufacturers because of exactly that. Keeping automobiles on the production line that should have been replaced decades ago and or barely refreshing them.

kvs wrote:It is true that the Soviet model locked in the design for way too long (e.g. the "buhanka").   But you do not need a design refresh
every year.   And my original point was about the parts.   There is no reason to change out every component together with
the shell, internal plastics, driver display, entertainment system, etc.   When you go to get your car fixed, you are not spending money
on replacing internal plastics or even the dash control/entertainment system.  

 

flamming_python wrote:

But is there a niche for cheap cars that look like crap but that run forever?

DPS patrol cars are equipped with beams with all-round visibility, by Vladimir Barshev for Rossiyskaya Gazeta.10.16.2022.

Perhaps as early as next year, traffic police cars will begin to be equipped with beams, which, in addition to flashing blue and red beacons, also carry out automatic traffic control. Mikhail Chernikov, head of the State Traffic Inspectorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, spoke about this at a forum held in Kazan.

The idea of ​​such beams arose two years ago. These devices not only provide a 360-degree view, read license plates and record violations. They also allow you to identify cars right in the stream, as well as people who are wanted.


As Mikhail Chernikov explained, this will make it possible not to stop cars for inspection without reason. If the camera recognizes that the car is wanted for one reason or another, a corresponding message will appear on the monitor, and the inspector will purposefully stop it for inspection.

In addition, the device recognizes the faces of those who are in the interior of a patrol car, on the street, as well as in the interiors of cars passing by.

As the developer of these beams explained to RG, the Cyber-Sheriff hardware-software complex is a set of flexibly customizable advanced systems and modules interconnected. The device is installed on a patrol car without changing its design.

https://rg.ru/2022/10/16/vzgliad-iz-pod-migalki.html

Robert.V wrote:

kvs wrote:Maybe Russia can break out of the western racket.   The annual cosmetic redesign which serves no purpose is what drives the costs.
It is a trick to make getting replacement parts expensive.  So everyone is supposed to keep their car for only 4 years.   Russia can
"regress" to the actual good old days of the USSR.   Make the cars simpler and don't waste money on annual retooling.   Do it every
5 years or even long.   The proles will have to lump it.   It is tiresome to listen to how the "consumers drive the market".   BS.  Look
at mass media and entertainment.   The precious consumers eat the shit that they are dished out.

Bad, idea.  Soviet stagnated their Automobile manufacturers because of exactly that. Keeping automobiles on the production line that should have been replaced decades ago and or barely refreshing them.

wilhelm wrote:My 2003 diesel car currently gets 25km to the litre.
I have not bothered to "upgrade" to a new "better" car because I don't drink from their "consumers" cup.
It does everything a newer car does, and everything I require of it. At a fraction of the cost.
I'm not an idiot.
I realised years ago what the car industry was about, supported by govt "legislation" that attempts to make it harder to keep that car.

Backman wrote:

Robert.V wrote:

kvs wrote:Maybe Russia can break out of the western racket.   The annual cosmetic redesign which serves no purpose is what drives the costs.
It is a trick to make getting replacement parts expensive.  So everyone is supposed to keep their car for only 4 years.   Russia can
"regress" to the actual good old days of the USSR.   Make the cars simpler and don't waste money on annual retooling.   Do it every
5 years or even long.   The proles will have to lump it.   It is tiresome to listen to how the "consumers drive the market".   BS.  Look
at mass media and entertainment.   The precious consumers eat the shit that they are dished out.

Bad, idea.  Soviet stagnated their Automobile manufacturers because of exactly that. Keeping automobiles on the production line that should have been replaced decades ago and or barely refreshing them.

I disagree. We have gone waaaaaay far off to the other extreme. The amount of bloatware and waste in modern autos is sickening. And because of this , cars are getting heavier and less efficient. Some mid 90's cars actually get better fuel economy than today's equivalents because of this. Look at the screens in some of this new stuff like the new Cadillac Escalade. It's insane.

There are lots of segments in the auto industry where frills don't matter.  The Nissan Frontier for example , was the same model from 1997 to 2021.

Robert.V wrote:Yep, infotainment systems especially modern once are fucking plague and utterly unsafe especially the fully  touch screen/pad ones.  with zillion fucking slow ass menus, etc.    
Fortunately enough proper buttons are coming back.   PSA Group especially seem to have gotten the clue a head of others.

Robert.V wrote:Another car trend I wish we never had is modern car seats  courtesy of the German and the fucking Swedes.  Which every car manufacturer started to adopt after the 90's.    Rock hard and most of the time offer no comfortable driving position.    And this shit is supposed to be good for you're back ?

If you ever driven  a old school Peugeot,  Citroen, American or some of the older luxury Italian cars.  You know what I mean.    

Peugeot in the 90's especially.  Top of the range had superb seats and ride comfort while also  being great handling cars  that utterly took a shit on the Germans.   Yet, badge snobbery prevailed.