The automotive companies have large capital outlays in  steel handling
equipment.

Makes you wonder if HP first sent the money then followed it.

"[log in to unmask]" <[log in to unmask]> wrote in message
news:a2msur0sfs@enews1.newsguy.com...
> > Excuse the bandwidth, but does anyone know why no one else uses the
> > non-metallic body panels on new cars...especially other GM products?
>
> I don't know why others don't (currently) use the acryllic plastic panels.
> My wife had a Saturn when I married her, and it has been a good car.  Her
> daughter drives the Saturn now.
>
> Pontiac used the panels on the Fiero back in the 80s.  Back in the 70s,
the
> first use of the acryllic plastic body panels was the Bricklin
> (http://bricklin.org/).  I have one of them, too.  It was a good idea
then,
> it's an even better idea now.
>
> Maybe it's just ignorance, short-sightedness, and a 'herd mentality' among
> automotive executives (just like computing executives).  When they look at
> the competion's current hot-selling products, they see cars made of steel,
> so they believe that the trend points to a future in steel-bodied cars.
> (When Winston/Carly looked at the competition's current hot-selling
> products, the saw computers using Windows/Unix/Linux, so they believe that
> the trend points to a future in Windows/Unix/Linux-based computers.)  If
an
> early SUV (or a popular Japanese sedan) would have had an acryllic plastic
> body, then we would probably see everybody racing to put the durable,
light-
> weight, dent-resistant, and rust-resistant panels on their models, too.
>
> Don
>
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