Mexico's booming car industry selling unsafe cars

[ZLoth]

From SF Gate:

Mexico's booming car industry selling unsafe cars

In Mexico's booming auto industry, the cars rolling off assembly lines may look identical, but how safe they are depends on where they're headed.

Vehicles destined to stay in Mexico or go south to the rest of Latin America carry a code signifying there's no need for antilock braking systems, electronic stability control, or more than two air bags, if any, in its basic models.

If the cars will be exported to the United States or Europe, however, they must meet stringent safety laws, including as many as six to 10 air bags, and stability controls that compensate for slippery roads and other road dangers, say engineers who have worked in Mexico-based auto factories.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

[SP Cook]

How is this news?  Of course, different jurisdictions at different places on the economic progress scale have different cost-benefit analysis results on many subjects.  Cars, worker safety, road design, sanitation, whatever.  I'm sure, by Mexican standards, a vehicle sold in Zambia would be considered "dangerous".

[Takumi]

And they can drive said unsafe cars on US streets via border crossings, while I won't be able to import a much safer R34 Nissan Skyline until my late 30s (a discussion we've had before).

[corco]

Part of the issue is that it's not really markup- cars are inherently more expensive in Mexico due to taxation while people have less money. This causes equivalent cars to need to be stripped of certain safety features in order to save money.

It's not some sinister ploy by Nissan or whatever to decontent cars sold in Latin America- from a mass production standpoint, it makes sense to build as few different variations as possible (this is why it's nearly impossible to get a car with manual windows in the US these days- it's not that manufacturers want entry level cars to have power windows, it's that it's not worth the price difference to develop a separate design with manual windows), but if taxation or whatever makes it not cost effective to do so, that's when they'll decontent cars. If the Mexican government is so concerned about it, they'll either decrease free trade restrictions to get the price lowered so it's not worth it to develop separate designs just to make a cheaper car at least for equivalent models, or pass regulations similar to what Americans have, which would raise the price of cars but make them safer.

In Mexico, they'll often roll with old designs for decades because of that- easier to keep selling brand new 1994 Nissan Sentras and 2004 Chevy Aveos than it is to develop a new design at a low price point. Mexicans like that too because it means parts are insanely easy to come by.

[jeffandnicole]

The sky turned dark as they neared central Mexico, and less than 250 miles from home they were hit head-on by a drunken driver in a red Ford Ranger pickup truck.

The couple died from chest and head injuries...The family said the investigation didn't determine whether air bags would have saved the parents' lives, but there was an air bag in the truck that struck them. The driver was not injured.

It's also well known that drunken drivers tend to not be severely injured in crashes because they remain looser and don't tense up. 

[bugo]

In Mexico, they'll often roll with old designs for decades because of that- easier to keep selling brand new 1994 Nissan Sentras and 2004 Chevy Aveos than it is to develop a new design at a low price point. Mexicans like that too because it means parts are insanely easy to come by.

The '66 Ford Galaxie 4 door sedan was built in Brazil until 1983 as the Ford Landau.  The basic bodyshell remained the same, but the front and rear clips were restyled several times. 

[Stephane Dumas]

In Mexico, they'll often roll with old designs for decades because of that- easier to keep selling brand new 1994 Nissan Sentras and 2004 Chevy Aveos than it is to develop a new design at a low price point. Mexicans like that too because it means parts are insanely easy to come by.

The '66 Ford Galaxie 4 door sedan was built in Brazil until 1983 as the Ford Landau.  The basic bodyshell remained the same, but the front and rear clips were restyled several times. 

Also, in Argentina, the 1960 Ford Falcon body was made until 1991! With redesigns updates to the dash, seats, and squared headlights.

South Africa got the VW Rabbit/Golf Mk1 from 1984 to 2008.

[SteveG1988]

In the early 90s when the USA mandated passive restraint in the form of either airbags or automatic seatbelts a few cars were unable to be imported to canada or into the USA due to that. the 1994 or so Plymouth Sundance had a manual seatbelt on Canadian models that did not meet the minimum standards for the USA model, yet the USA model had automatic seatbelts that did not meet the canadian market standards for the same model year.

In europe you could buy a car without a catalytic covnerter until the 1980s. The USA requries the electronic bits because now it is cost-effective to include them. US standards at one time required less safe features...and outlawed some that were safer. the 1955-1974 Citroen DS had to be modified in the late 60s to have fixed sealed beam headlights due to the USA disallowing aerodynamic covers in 1968. Any citroen produced after 1974 was banned until the 1990s due to the fact that the USA disallowed height adjust suspensions on cars, all vehicles had to have a fixed bumper height, hence why the UK market delorean (not many made) rode lower than the US Market one. British leyland had to put blocks in their cars to basically increase the ride height to meet US bumper laws. In europe you have to have a certain distance between the top of the engine and the hood, in the USA there is no such law for pedestrian protection. Pickup trucks are exempt from any bumper laws, are not held to as strict of a fuel economy law, or emissions. For example a pickup can be sold without a bumper at all, hence why the PT cruiser had barely any at all, it was engineered to be a truck

[bugo]

The PT Cruiser was a car, no matter what it was marketed as.

[Brandon]

The PT Cruiser was a car, no matter what it was marketed as.

Plus, having been the owner of one of 9-1/2 years, it did have a normal bumper.  Modern bumpers are integrated into the vehicle, unlike 1970s bumpers.

[JREwing78]

For meeting Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations, Chrysler had the PT Cruiser designated as a truck. This boosted the average fuel economy of their truck line, as the PT Cruiser had passenger car fuel economy. More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_PT_Cruiser

[Scott5114]

For meeting Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations, Chrysler had the PT Cruiser designated as a truck. This boosted the average fuel economy of their truck line, as the PT Cruiser had passenger car fuel economy. More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_PT_Cruiser

Barely. I have one, and I'm planning on getting rid of it soon because the mileage sucks for the size of the car.

[PHLBOS]

For meeting Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations, Chrysler had the PT Cruiser designated as a truck. This boosted the average fuel economy of their truck line, as the PT Cruiser had passenger car fuel economy. More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_PT_Cruiser

Barely. I have one, and I'm planning on getting rid of it soon because the mileage sucks for the size of the car.

One needs to keep in mind that the CAFE figure for passengers back then was 27.5 mpg and the truck figure was 20.5 mpg.  So while the PT Cruiser struggled to average 27.5 mpg; it easily averaged above 20.5 mpg.

[Brandon]

For meeting Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) regulations, Chrysler had the PT Cruiser designated as a truck. This boosted the average fuel economy of their truck line, as the PT Cruiser had passenger car fuel economy. More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_PT_Cruiser

Barely. I have one, and I'm planning on getting rid of it soon because the mileage sucks for the size of the car.

One needs to keep in mind that the CAFE figure for passengers back then was 27.5 mpg and the truck figure was 20.5 mpg.  So while the PT Cruiser struggled to average 27.5 mpg; it easily averaged above 20.5 mpg.

Always wound up getting 24-25 mpg with mine, even with the automatic.  Traded it in on a 2011 Dodge Caliber (also bought new) that usually gets 30-33 mpg.

[Crazy Volvo Guy]

Cars without ABS, stability control, or airbags?

Sounds like something I wish I could still buy.

Not to go on an "I HATE GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS!!!!" tirade, but US automotive safety regulations leave consumer choice out of the question entirely.

I don't need ten airbags.  I DON'T WANT ten airbags.  And in order to get a car without ten (or six or eight or twelve or how-fucking-ever many) I have to buy a car that's at least 8-10 years old.  This is ridiculous.

Oh, and I don't want drive-by-wire, either.  Guess I need to move to Latin America.