Re: CEM injection follow up

[AKress1948@domain.elided]

Eric's comments about the long time required to develop Ford's latest
iteration of electronic fuel injection are an object lesson in the vast
amounts of time, money (after all, time = money) and patience (staying power)
that are required to play in the modern automotive marketplace.  Even though
this was the system Ford finally picked, I'd be willing to bet a little bit of
dough that this wasn't the only ongoing development program Ford had for
electronic fuel injection, and I'd also be willing to bet that they followed a
lot of seemingly good ideas for a long time before they were finally abandoned
as not workable.  Probably bought the rights to some technology along the way
as well.  This is just the tip of the iceberg in the development cycle of new
product.  
It was widely published that Ford spent $ 6 Billion to develop the Contour
platform as a "world platform".  Seems like an impossibly, ridiculously huge
number.  But when you start thinking about the vast numbers of systems in
todays cars, and the government regulations in all the markets any real car
manufacturer competes in, you can start to see where $ 6 billion might have
been cheap!!  These facts of life are why Alfa is owned by Fiat, Volvo and
Jaguar by Ford, Saab by GM, even Chrysler by Daimler, and all the rest, past
and future.  
To survive, never mind grow, Alfa needed someone with pockets deep enough to
pay for all this development - or at least increase the number of cars to
spread the basic costs over.  My guess is that no matter how good Alfa's CEM
could have been, it could not (and did not) see the light of day because Alfa
could not afford to pay to have it developed.  
Oh well, back to my cage.
Andy

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