Are the newer models built cheaper?

Faster doesn't always equal cheaper. think about it this way: If you have one line making prii, and they pump out one every 15 seconds, then tahts all you've got. on the other hand, if you have 15 lines making them at the same rate, then you're making 1 per second overall.

Additionally, with any manufacturing operation, you'll find that the time each part takes at a station will gradually decrease some over time as the operators become more familiar with what they're doing. Add to that the potential for purchasing more high tech, automated, and specialized equipment as the production volumes increases.

Think of it this way: Where it used to take 1 person x number of seconds to make one weld on the frame, a new robotic assembly can do the same job with better accuracy in a fraction of the time.

 

This can also mean a change in the mix of cars being produced on the line rather than increasing the speed. The same line is just producing more Prii and fewer other cars.

 

@ Toyota, the quality is ensured on every vehicle because the quality paramaters are set on the MAXIMUM production rate the line is capable of producing. Also, the Prius is built by Japanese Robots anyway.

 

Also remember there is a learning factor in manufactoring. The more you make the more you tend to learn to make your processes more efficient and higher quality. The previous rate of 1 per 15 min may have been due to cars or systems that do not meet the quality standards and have to be reworked. New processes may have eliminated those errors.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(RichBoy @ Jul 29 2006, 03:57 PM) [snapback]294398[/snapback]</div>

Have you actually visited and taken a tour of the plant where Priuses are built? I have (when 04s had just come out). There's still a fair amount of manual assembly towards the end of the process esp. when it comes to installation of the interior bits. This seemed true of all the cars that came off the line there (they build more than just the Prius at that plant).

I don't recall them showing any of the robots on that tour (doesn't mean they don't use them, we just didn't get to see them).

On tours of a Nissan plant in Oppama and the NUMMI (GM and Toyota joint venture) plant in Fremont, CA they do show you some of the robots but they seem to do mostly welding and certain assembly tasks.

None of the auto plant tours I've been on show you the paint shop though (been on the ones above + a tour of a Mazda plant in Hiroshima).

 

I suspect the answer is mostly that there are more lines produciing Prii, not that they are cutting corners to produce more.