Right.  In fact it was just that logic that governed Detroit in the 1950's
with their "planned obsolescence" when the idea was that you would drive a
car for two years and throw it away.  Fortunately the Germans and Japanese
didn't buy that and forced Detroit to make better cars, but only after many
painful years.

As it is, if it weren't for federal law which requires spare parts be sold
for 10 years (I think it's 10) manufacturers wouldn't keep parts alive for
more than a couple of years.

By the way, the story of the Eurovan that Ari Ollikainen  put us onto was
interesting.  The T2 was introduced in 1967 and had its best year in 1971
just four years later.  After that it was downhill all the way to
1978.  Every year a successful car is produced and remains on the road
makes it harder to sell the same car in the future.  In that regard the
Vanagon was its own worst enemy just as the Beetle was its own.   I'd like
to see similar stats for the Vanagon and the Eurovan.  You can bet that VW
has been tracking such stats closely.

Charles
'85 Westy

At 01:06 PM 6/15/01 -0500, Dave Baker wrote:
>Yes, but keep in mind that every car maker's dream is to have everyone buy
>their cars, then junk them after a couple of years.   Isn't there more money
>to be made from selling new models than keeping the old ones alive?
>
>Dave in KC
>85 Westy
>http://members.fortunecity.com/davebaker1
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Terry Kay <CTONLINE@WEBTV.NET>
>To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
>Sent: Friday, June 15, 2001 11:35 AM
>Subject: Re: ?? SA Engine Conversion ??
>
>
> > So in essence what you are implicating, is that as soon as VW introduces
> > the new Micro bus, the Eurovan is going to be dead issue?
> >
> > I have a real hard time believing that.
> >
> > And I don't think that there were enough Vanagons sold here, or still is
> > enough to jeopardize their current vehicle sales, in offering an engine
> > conversion kit.
> >
> >   ______________
> >  |[  ] [  ] [ ]\
> >  |    |    |    |
> > ||-(())----(())-|
> >
> >
> > Terry
> > 74 Campmobile (Clementine)
> > 85 GL
> > 86 BMW 325 ES