midtowndesi

lol - what a title....

I figure I'd ask the following questions just to stir up some thought.....

1) How much do you think the xB costs in materials ALONE?
2) How much do you think it costs to manufacter an xB?


I was in the shower and was wondering about those questions... thats not scary is it?

l0l - happy friday,
- sh00k

ps - I know we have to include things such as R & D but, for this, do NOT include those factors =]

THansenite

Hmmm, most people just sing in the shower. I guess you are an overachiever.

Actually, I have wondered the same thing about the tC. How much materials cost vs. how much it costs to make vs. the retail price.

midtowndesi

These are my guesses:

1) Cost of materials - not over a few thousand - My max is like 4 grand...
2) Manufacturing - my guess again is a few thousand.

All in all, I think the xB costs 10 grand or less to produce. I KNOW i am not including R & D - this is on purpose.

tn_05_camo_xb

I have always wondered how much an automaker profits on each car.

midtowndesi

^^^ I would have to guess it's in the thousands for a new car. Plastic parts are cheap as hell - you can have your own headlights and tail lights etc custom made in china for pennies on the dollar that people are spending on them here in the states. And this is only from a small company.

I would think that plastics fabrication comes down to pennies per item when the order comes from a huge car company like toyota.

It's obvious that the R&D is what boosts the prices so high but how high? I'd love to get the numbers on this - maybe a scion dealership can answer this question! =]

- sh00k

superjeer

I'd think once you're tooled up for it, the cost of a car is almost squat. But, the cost of tooling up is astronomical.

$2,315 for raw materials
$1,287 for energy and labor :D

YourNameHere

i read on some article about the death of GM that the genral loses ~1200 per car it sells. Toyota makes ~$900 Porsche makes the most money of any company per car. Im sure JD Power or consumer reports has a thing for lose/profit on a cars

midtowndesi

I'm changing my guess to be about $2,315.85 per vehicle for raw materials! hahahahaha

you know what though, as nuts as your figures are, they're most likely closer than my guess of 10 grand. haha!
- sh00k

xA_Factor

Toyota is not netting much on the Scion line.

cliffy1

I'm not sure this question could ever be answered. The raw materials really isn't even the issue because a lot of the parts are fabricated by subcontractors. headlights, radios, radiators and things like that are not built in-house. They are purchased as completed products. In order to figure out what the cost of the raw materials are, you would have to add it up from many different manufacturers.

Now... I know this wasn't the question asked, but what do you think it would cost to build a Scion with parts purchased in the Toyota Parts Department? I recall a study a number of years ago that added up what a Toyota Tercel would cost if each component were purchased seperately. The total was about $42,000 at retail prices.

bassist1217

a salesman at the SCION lot here told me that SCION relies mostly on the accessories to make money off of their cars. that people like me who want to buy them stock and order accessories cheaper off the internet don't bring in much money.

OldYeller

It wouldn't surprize me if they sell the XA and XB at or below cost. Most dealerships make their money off of service. I have to tell you that I have been treated VERY well at two different dealerships when I went in for service. Toyota is trying to get younger people in the family. They will build some brand loyalty for later. This means big bucks over the course of a person's life span.

If the question is the raw cost of the unmanufactured materials--probably a couple of hundred dollars. The manufacturing and shipping and overhead is what adds up.

I had the dealer take off the $2000 wheels on my box--they did it with no complaints. I got better looking wheels for a lot less.

mandangalo

according to edmunds, the invoice on an xb is $13328.

http://www.edmunds.com/new/2006/scio...17/prices.html

so if that is the invoice, they are still making money off of scion, the thing is, with fixed prices, so its the same on every unit, until you factor in accessories and whatnot.

JollyGreenMidget

I've heard that Ford's profit on explorers is about 5k per car and 10k on the expedition/excursion. Obscene!

xA_Factor

There seems to be 2 different discussions going on here. Manufacturer's profit and dealer profit. Actual dealer cost is a bit lower than invoice. So even figuring that in, dealerships are making peanuts on the Scion line after overhead and paying the sales reps. Toyota, the manufacturer, is probably lucky to break even.

Toyota has 3 entities that handle the vehicles.

Production---> TLS---> TMS---> Retail Customer

First is the manufacture (production) arm......in other words the plants that produce them. The plant then sells the vehicle to TLS (Toyota Logistics Service). They handle the logistics involved in physically transporting the vehice to the appropriate dealership, as well as installing "port" options. TLS then sells the vehilce to TMS (Toyota Motor Sales). TMS then sells the vehicle to the retail customer.

So it's difficult to say just how much profit Toyota the manufacture is making. Their gross profit is probably fairly high, but the actual net is much lower.

superjeer

but, that's to balance the losses on the smaller cars. This is why Ford and GM banked on SUVs. They can make a profit on them. too bad for them gas prices went so high.

Psyco565

gee I wonder why the gas went up? could it be that people are burning it all up at 10mpg? Really... people can be so lame, but then again so is OPEC. Suburbia the place where all the soccer moms are too cool to drive minivans and instead drive lifted Excursions.

Sciond

ok I read this whole thread and got nothing out of it... I will never get those 5 minutes back.....

cliffy1

Ummm... not quite. TMS does not, nor will ever sell a car to a retail customer. They sell to the dealers who in turn sell to the retail customer. The dealers are not owned by TMS.

You are correct that some here have confused the issue of what a car costs to make as opposed to what it costs the dealer to get a hold of one. They are two distinct figures but only the dealer cost is public information. Well, only the invoice is known, real cost involves accounting for the dealer's variable expenses after paying the invoice price.

chadfo

There are a lot of other hidden profits the dealer makes. There are selling incentives. I've heard from many many sources that the dealer gets at least another 8% of the selling price back from the manufacturer. That money is completely hidden from anything the customer sees. They also get kick backs from finance companies.

The higher end cars are where the dealers/manufacturers make most of their money from sales. The rest comes from service. The low end cars, like Scion, are to get you in the family and move up to the Toyota and Lexus brands as you progress through life and make more income.