Why are Caterhams so expensive?

"Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ" (doge-supreme) 02/04/2014 at 15:34 • Filed to: None

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The cheapest model starts at 29,580$, and that's without an engine and transmission, so as far as I can work out you're paying nearly 30k for a body with almost no interior and some suspension that you also have to put together yourself. I feel like I may be missing something because I doubt it costs that much to make the chassis, body panels and suspension bits even factoring in cost for development.

ddavidn > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 02/04/2014 at 15:36

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Because racecar?

Crocket Bernet > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 02/04/2014 at 15:36

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Because people will pay that much.

RazoE > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 02/04/2014 at 15:37

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Less is more. The less you get the more you pay for. Except if you want more you pay for more. Look the point is......i don't know...

lone_liberal > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 02/04/2014 at 15:40

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You don't get the economy of scale like a production car and they need to make enough profit on a limited production to support the operating expenses of the company.

Nibbles > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 02/04/2014 at 15:40

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Lightness isn't free; that shit has to come from somewhere

Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ > lone_liberal 02/04/2014 at 15:43

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I guess that is true i forgot about that. but couldn't they make more if the reduced the price and opened it up to a whole new market, instead of just those who could afford a 36000$ car you can drive only a few months out of the year. (that factoring in cost for the motor and trans.)

Jeff-God-of-Biscuits > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 02/04/2014 at 15:43

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How dare you sir! How dare you even attempt to put a mere "pricetag" on awesome! Away with you now, you Cad.

jariten1781 > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 02/04/2014 at 15:44

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Dunno. If I had to guess:

Heritage

Production line with little automation and lots of touch labor

Individual shipping without carrier deals due to low volume

But most likely because someone is willing to pay it.

ddavidn > Nibbles 02/04/2014 at 15:45

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Lightness is more expensive and rarer than unobtanium.

CobraJoe > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 02/04/2014 at 15:46

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It's the curse of the small manufacturer.

They don't have the money to invest in cheaper manufacturing options like steel stamping and robotic assembly, they don't have the production numbers to support spreading that much expense over a half a million models, they don't have the engineering support to design and test any advanced methods, and they probably couldn't afford to hire on someone who could do the design and testing. So, that leaves them with old school welded tube steel frames that have a pretty fixed cost to make (tubing costs so much and it takes so much time to cut and weld it all together), and it takes more skilled labor to weld and assemble the frames, which isn't as cheap as letting robots spot weld panels together.

lone_liberal > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 02/04/2014 at 15:50

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I don't think the market for a home built roadster is going to get all that much larger even given a lower price. Maybe percentage wise, but not in straight quantity. I'm sure their marketing people have run those numbers numerous times.

Destructive Tester > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 02/04/2014 at 15:50

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I'm going to go out on a limb and guess it has to do with economies of scale and that there are not enough Caterhams sold in a year to keep the company profitable at a lower price.
That and because they can...

Chase > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 02/04/2014 at 15:51

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blame it on them being english - the Seven 160 on the uk site starts at £14,995 - exchange rate + export kills it

themanwithsauce - has as many vehicles as job titles > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 02/04/2014 at 15:51

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But then you might not have a consistent customer base. If everyone who wants one, has one......what else do you do? For caterham, the answer is simple - make it expensive enough that it's an aspirational toy and your sales numbers will be lower that year but you will have some sales the next year. You also keep used quantities in check.

Conan > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 02/04/2014 at 15:57

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I think people feel they're worth what they pay. If I could get a Donkervoort here I would.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 02/04/2014 at 16:05

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Low sales volume, import costs and type approval probably do the price a lot of damage by the time it gets to the States.

Try Locost if you're looking for a 7 replica. I think they're US-based.

desertdog5051 > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 02/04/2014 at 17:27

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You are paying for F-1 parts.

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > Doge_Supreme drives a BRZ 02/05/2014 at 09:16

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They have canvas tops. I've seen one driven year round, and we are up around 150" of snow so far for this season and average over 200" per winter. Last year the guy did get a Focus ST as a winter car though.

Thisnewformatisrubbish > Conan 02/05/2014 at 21:17

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You should. Those crazy dutch.