Date: Sun, 13 Jul 2003 00:24:53 -0700
From: Jon Pike <jhpike@domain.elided>
Subject: Re: The end of Autodelta?
I would be like to know if there are answers to some interesting
questions raised, like are any of the post US market cars able or
likely to meet the smog or crash specs? Of course even if it meets a
Euro spec that might be the equivilant of a US one, the law likely
won't consider both the same. '
As with most bureaucratic nonsense, whether these cars WILL or WON'T
comply is not really the question. That they haven't been THROUGH THE
PROCESS is the real bugaboo. It's just like the gauntlet that new new
prescription drugs have to run before they can be sold in the USA.
These drugs can be performing miracles in other countries, but if the
company making them doesn't feel that they will sell enough in the USA
to offset the MILLIONS of dollars that it costs to get FDA
certification, then it doesn't matter how many people die or continue
to suffer needlessly, because of it, the drug simply will not be
available to Americans. And often, if the drug is important enough to
pay for certification, amortization of the certification costs are so
high that the drug becomes prohibitively expensive. Take it form
someone who buys a prescription antacid (Prilosec) from Mexico at l/4
the cost of the same prescription bought at any pharmacy in the USA, US
prescription drug prices are a rip-off, and the exorbitant cost of the
FDA approval process is (most of) the reason. With cars it would be the
same. Test 7 to 10 examples of each model to destruction, and the car
manufacturer has to recoup the costs from somewhere. Guess where? The
fewer the projected sales of such a car, the more each example will
cost. So, gentlemen, we get it going and coming.