|
While there is some joking by Lotus, he has a very valid point. Car companies could design a car and its associated parts to last 50 years if they wanted. However, its not in their best interest to do so. I work in aerospace, we do the same thing. The length of time we build a component to last is a combination of warranty expectations in conjunction with "common" usage and environmental conditions. We do use super computers to predict how long something will last and then we prove it by doing highly accelerated stress testing. I have no doubt that car companies engineer its cars in a similar method.
In my opinion, brand loyalty is more about the experience while the car is under warranty. It seems that most people that do buy a BMW, or any new car for that matter, will not typically keep this car for the life of the car (probably estimated between 10-15 years). Most people that buy new cars will keep the car for the length of the warranty or slightly outside of it, and then buy a new one. In my opinion, this is where brand loyalty is important, not in how long the components will last once outside the warranty.
|