AA調高價格真的是純粹因為成本的上升嗎﹖還是因為某些講不得的“潛規則”﹖這個
嗎還是留待精明的消費者們自己來決定。
The price of die cast model cars will become higher – 6 Dec, 2011
Autoart die cast model was first launched in 1998. At that time, the basic labor cost in China was around $1.60US per day for a ten hour working day. The rate then, was almost double what it was a decade before. There were plenty of workers waiting at the front gates of every factories looking for work. These factories provided food and shelter for the workers. These workers came from far away provinces in central China to live and work in the factories for a minimum of one year and they would return home only once a year.
Provinces in central China are the most populous. Sichuan province alone has almost 100 million people. There were few developments before the mid 2000’s and the young people in the region were forced to look for jobs in the industrial zone around the coast lines. Many of them were female workers as young as 18 years of age, the legal age of employment, and had finished eight to ten years of education. They wanted to earn some money to help their families.
Despite the low wages, they were able to save most of their income and were able to buy a small place to live in their hometown after working for a couple of years. Life was simple and the workers were happy just to work and willing to stay in the factory year after year.
Until early 2000’s, an average 1:18 scale Autoart models with 100 ~ 120 components would retail for around $50US and mass market toy grade model cars would retail at only $19.99US. The manufacturers, producers, importers, and retailers were all able to make their fair share of profits and the collectors were very active in collecting the models.
Today, a regular Autoart 1:18 scale model retails for around $150US. The price has increased as much as three times over the course of 12 years but the people involved in the manufacturing and marketing of the products are not getting their fair share of the profit margin. Many factories are now losing money and the main reason for this is that the labor cost has gone up almost ten times when calculated in US dollar. The basic worker still earns $1.60US but it is now an hourly rate instead of daily rate. Despite the higher wages, the workers are not happy with their jobs and always demand a higher pay.
They would quit as soon as another factory offers a higher pay. Inflation in China has become a major issue in recent years. Housing prices have gone up ten or even twenty times and workers can no longer buy a small place to live after working for a few years. On the other hand, the standard of living has improved greatly over the last decade. Televisions, smart phones and computers have become common household items in average families.
There are 500 million internet users and 600 millions mobile phone accounts in China, three times more than the USA. There are also more Chinese learning English than the whole America. People in China are quickly learning what the desirable things in the world are and they are no longer happy with a life that consist of having a shelter over your head and food on the table to feed the family. There are more than 18 millions new cars filling the road of China every year, 50% more than America, every Chinese wants a car instead of paddling a bicycle.
The cost of manufacturing a high quality 1:18 scale model has gone up tremendously due in big part to the cost of labor. The retail prices may have tripled in the past decade but the people involved in the making and marketing of the products are much worst off.
The mark up factor from production cost all the way to the final retail price is largely depended on the upfront investment and the estimated selling quantity. For example, designer brand clothes itself may cost only $10US to produce, but the marketing cost such as fashion show, advertising, designing fee and packaging may cost tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars.
If the clothes are sold in hundreds of pieces, the retail price will have to be $100US or over in order to breakeven the investment. If it is mass-market clothing selling in tens of thousands of pieces, under the same production cost of the $10US, the retail price can be as low as only $30US. For a die cast model car, the main upfront investment is the tooling cost (moulds).
The licensing fee can also represent a large sum of money for some hot subjects and upfront payment is to be paid to the car makers regardless if the model is selling or not. The tooling cost for a 1:18 scale model is an investment of six figure amounts, if the selling quantity is in tens or hundreds of thousands, then the amortization of the tooling fee is only one or two dollars for each model. But if the selling quantity is only in few thousands of pieces, then the amortization of the tooling is tens of dollars for each model. The same applies to license fees; a hot subject license fee can be in the six figure amounts.
Mass market toy grade die cast models can be sold in tens or even hundreds of thousands of pieces; the amortization of tooling fees and license fees is not a major cost factor in this case. But for high quality collectable die cast models, only thousands of pieces will be sold, very seldom would it break into the five figures level. Therefore, the amortization of tooling cost and licensing fees becomes a major cost factor.
Until now, the mark up factor for all die cast model cars is set at around 2.5 ~ 3 times from production cost to retail price. It may be workable for mass market products, but it is no longer viable for high quality models. There are in fact much fewer high quality new die cast models being released into the market recently because there is no profit to be made for people involve in the business.
The factories are being squeezed to keep the prices as low as possible and they are aware that if the prices become too high, very few people will buy model cars. Even if the factories make no profit, it is still better than receiving no orders. If fewer orders come in, thousands of workers are still paid the same but with lower output. Major OEM model car factories in China are minimizing their production capacity or changing their product line because manufacturing die cast models has become too expensive and too complicated when the labor cost is so high and the production involves hundreds of processes using thousands of workers.
When the price of model cars continues to climb higher and higher, less and less people are collecting them. When there are less collectors buying the model cars, retail shops have a much harder time to survive with the declining sales and the higher cost of operations. The online shops are also taking away a big part of the retailing business because they have much lower overhead and they can sell with a lower profit margin. We are seeing model car shops closing down one by one in recent years.
Die cast model cars are classified as toys and the companies can only participate in toy related exhibitions and trade fairs where mostly toy related traders go to conduct their business. As long as people regard these die cast models as a toy, it cannot be priced too high or else people will say it is too expansive and refuse to buy them no matter how nice and delicate the model may be.
For example, a normal Swiss watch consists of less than a hundred components and can be priced for several hundred or even several thousands of dollars. Most of these so called Swiss watches are all having the cases and bands manufactured in China then shipped to Switzerland to have the movement fitted which will then qualify the watch to become Swiss made. When it is Swiss made, it can be priced ten times more than watches made in developing countries. This is the norm in the market and the general perception of consumers. Most people accept that if the watch is made in Switzerland, it has to be expansive. And if the product is made in China, it has to be cheap even though the quality is very good.
The development time for a high quality 1:18 scale model that consist of more than a hundred components, is around one year. If the component number is several hundreds of pieces, then the development time can be two years or even more. Each process during the development period requires many experienced engineers to work on the project. The whole development is far more complicated than regular watch making.
For a high quality 1:18 die cast model car that is made in China, collectors are already complaining that the prices are too high when models are retailed at $100US or over. Some collectors even commented that the workers are getting too little pay and the producers are making too much profit by raising the prices again and again. The true fact is the opposite; the producers are not getting enough money to pay for the ever increasing worker salary. If the model producers were to apply the norm of the other products as mentioned, the viable retail prices would have to be doubled or even tripled. Unfortunately, the product is regarded as toy by the general public even though some will name it as collectable. When it is a toy, it has to be cheap, especially when it is made in China. There must be a change in the product perception by the general public and the price must be higher than what it is now, otherwise, the wages of the workers are going to increase year by year; more and more factories will stay out of the business when they can no longer afford to lose more money and very few collectable die cast models will be made in the future..
合金模型的价格必將更高 – 由MC的會員vantage 翻譯
AUTOart模型公司于1998年成立。當時，中國工人的基本工資大約是1.6美元每天，10小時工作制。這和12年前相比（即1986年），薪水已經几乎翻倍。當年有許多工人每天等在工厂前為了討一份工作。這些工人都從中國的中西部來，為工厂干至少一年，而每年只回家一次。中國西部的省份人口最多，四川省几乎有1億人。在2005年前，那邊還沒有很好的發展起來，年輕人就不得不到東部沿海發達地區來找工作。他們之中有很多是年僅18歲的女性，在完成了8-10年的教育之后，剛剛到了合法的雇佣年齡。她們希望能改善她們的家庭狀況。盡管工資很低，她們卻能夠存下大多數的工資。工作几年之后，到她們的家鄉買房。這樣的生活很簡單，她們十分樂意年复一年的來工厂上班。
直到21世紀開頭几年，一個1:18的AA大概有100到120個部件，零售价大約是50美元。相比之下，低端玩具級的模型大約是20美元。當時制造商，進口商，零售商都能夠賺取合理的利潤，玩家也非常積極的收集模型。今天，一個一般的AA模型大概是150個零件。盡管价格已經是當年的3倍，但是生產商和批發商卻反而無法賺取合理的利潤。許多模型厂在虧損，其中最大的原因是人工成本以美元計算几乎翻了10倍。現在一個工人依然是賺1.6美元，但不是一天，而是一個小時。盡管工資高了，但是工人們并不高興，不斷的要求加薪。他們一旦在別的工厂找到更高的工資就立刻走人了。近些年，通貨膨脹在中國已經成為了一個很大的問題。房价在10年間翻了10倍甚至20倍，工人們根本不可能通過几年的工作回老家買房。另外一方面，這些年來生活水平也提高了很多。彩電，智能手机和電腦進入了大多數中國家庭。現在中國大約有5億人上网和6億手机用戶，是美國的3倍。現在中國學英語的人數甚至都超過了整個美國人口。中國人民很快就發現很多國外的好東西，他們不再滿足于一個睡覺的地方和一日三餐。現在中國每年會有1800万輛新車上路，是美國的1.5倍。現在每個中國人都想有車，而不是滿足于騎自行車。
現在，由于人工成本，生產一個高端1:18模型的成本巨幅上漲。盡管零售价3倍于早先，但是生產商和批發商卻更悲慘了。從生產環節一直到零售環節，每個環節的加价幅度主要是取決于前期投資以及預計銷量。打個比方，一件名牌服裝的生產成本僅僅是10美元，但是公關成本（比如時裝秀，廣告，設計費用，包裝費用）卻可能是几十甚至几百几千美元。如果這款服裝能賣几百件，每件的售价至少要几百美元才能不虧本。而相比之下那种低端大眾化的衣服每款能售出几万件，在同樣10元成本的條件下，零售价只要30美元就能賺錢。對于合金模型來說，主要是的前期投入是磨具。熱門車版權費也是一筆大開銷，而且不管最終模型銷量如何，版權費是必須提前付給真車生產商的。1:18磨具的成本大概要6位數（美元計），如果一款模型能賣几万或几十万個，分攤在每個模型上的磨具成本才1，2美元。版權費分攤成本也是如此。一個熱門車的版權費也要6位數！
大眾化低端模型确實每款能賣到几万甚至几十万個，因此磨具和版權成本都不是問題。但是高端貨卻每款大多只能賣出几千個，很少能賣到一万個。所以版權費和磨具成本是分攤下來是很高的。
現在，合金模型每個環節（從生產到零售）的加价，大約是2.5到3倍。這對低端模型是可行的，但是高端模型卻不行。近几年，高端模型越來越少，就是因為搞高端模型不賺錢！
工厂現在已經是極力壓縮成本，他們知道如果售价太高，買的人會越來越少。就算工厂不賺錢，也要比沒有人訂購要好。如果訂單減少，工人一樣拿工資，可是產出卻下降很多。現在中國很多OEM的模型厂在盡量減產或者更換他們的產品線，因為生產合金模型變得太貴太复雜——人工成本高，生產過程需要几千個工人，几百道工序。
當零售价越來越高，越來越少的人收藏模型。當玩家越來越少，零售店由于銷量減少越來越難以生存。网店現在成了主要的零售渠道，因為他們的成本更低，可以以更低的利潤出貨。我們看到這几年實體店一家一家的倒閉。
合金模型被大眾認為是玩具，合金模型厂只能和玩具厂一起參加玩具展。只要大眾認為合金模型是玩具，合金模型就不能太貴。不然人們就會說這太貴了，我不買了，不管合金模型做的再好再精致。
比如說，一個普通的瑞士表大約少于100個部件，卻可以賣几百或者几千美元。大多數所謂瑞士表其實外殼和表帶都是在中國生產，然后運到瑞士，就可以說是瑞士制造。因為只要你是瑞士制造，你就可以賣10倍与發展中國家制造的手表的价格。這在市場中和消費者中是很正常的。大多數人接受只要是瑞士表，就應該貴的理念。而大多人也認為，只要是中國產的東西，就應該便宜，就算質量很好。
開發一款高質量一百個零件的1:18模型需要大概1年時間。如果是几百個零件的模型，則需要大概2年時間或者更長。每個發開環節都需要高工資的工程師參与。整個開發過程比制造手表要复雜多了！
玩家早已抱怨一個高質量中國制造的1:18模型太貴，要賣 100多美金。很多玩家甚至說工人只拿了一點點錢，而生產商卻一而再而三的提价為了謀取暴利。事實卻是相反，生產商都不夠錢去付一再漲价的工人工資。如果一個模型生產商依照其他行業一般規矩定价，現在的合理零售价應該再翻1倍或2倍呢！不幸的是，這些商品被大眾認為是玩具，盡管有些人覺得他們是收藏品。只要他是玩具，他就該便宜，尤其是中國制造的。這种把合金模型認為是玩具的看法必須改變，而模型的价格必須更高。否則，隨著工人工資年复一年的增加，一個個模型厂將倒閉，因為虧損太多。將來，越來越少的高端合金會被生產。。。
其实问题只有一个，为什么其他模型涨价幅度远远低于AA？当然AA可以说，我做工每年都在改进。问题是不知道AA从哪里来的结论，做工需要一直提高。以我个人来说，应该也是广大其他主流模型玩家的意思，你AA就应该保持KY的做工，卖KY的价格水平（KY也在涨价，但是幅度还能让人接受）。我没让你朝CMC发展啊，我对车型的要求高于做工的提高，我买AA大多数是因为车型喜欢，做工只是其次的。真的追求做工的人早都玩CMC去了，只要AA的做工一天没有追上CMC，玩做工的人就一天不会买AA。AA不但没有因为做工的提高获得新的客户群，反而因为涨价大量损失了原先的那群客户。不知道AA的市场定位怎么回事。
如果大家能上facebook上面看看aa的留言和网友的回复就知道了
AA一再回避为何其他模型厂商的涨价幅度小得多，只提中国的人工成本如何如何高。全世界的玩家都是明眼人，很多冠冕堂皇的理由谁都看得出是空话。自身定位的不准确：无端的向高端进发，众多车型失误的预测（没人买导致最终特价车），，最终导致现在的恶性循环。
AA发表的最后留言是——”价格的上涨是不可避免的，玩家数量减少也是不可避免的，只有真的懂得欣赏模型价值的玩家会继续收集AA” 背后的逻辑很简单“我就这样，爱玩不玩”
vantage
这篇文章文笔顶多也就是初中文化吧，不知所云，毫不相干的举例，重复累赘的词汇。忍了几次看完
引用文章中的一句“大众化低端模型确实每款能卖到几万甚至几十万个，因此磨具和版权成本都不是问题。但是高端货却每款大多只能卖出几千个，很少能卖到一万个。所以版权费和磨具成本是分摊下来是很高的。”
照文章的这个理论，那AA就应该卖200，比卖现在的价格要更挣钱，为什么AA不这样做啊，你要这样，我每个模型都收色，你卖吗？还硬说自己是高端，AA你真的从来没有在模友心中是什么高端！！AA你的做工在某几个方面是有亮点的，但是你和CMC的差距无论从整体做工还是到细节甚至包装，以及品牌定位的针对性都是有巨大差距的，要是你谦虚一点还好，现在这样真是会更加让人反感。你现在唯一能让大家买你的理由，就是你花了比别家更多的钱去买真车的版权而已，而你模型本身没有一点吸引我们的地方，完全就是吃真车的老本。CMC可以通过他的做工，让我去收它，尽管它更贵，甚至车型我并不是那么的喜欢和了解，但我也会因为他品牌本身的做工去收藏，我可以说收藏的是CMC。而看看你们的产品，有哪一个是会让模友因为你AA而收藏？恐怕真的细想起来，没有一个。也就是说但凡有一个厂家比你们花更多的钱去买掉你们想买的版权的时候，你们就完蛋了。这一天早晚要来的！
王丁一鹏
看了AA这篇东西简直是鬼话连篇。
首先，在我记忆中98年大陆工人的工资也不可能只有3XX/月如此低。就算近几年中国物价飞涨，但是工资也没涨到你所形容的哪个幅度吧？！
第二，1:18的模型就AA这个品质前期开模费也绝不要6位数美圆来计算，6位数人民币还差不多。
第三，代工工厂极力压缩成本还不是因为你们这些品牌商要强压工厂的价格造成的吗？你们一边强压工厂的代工价格，一方面喊着工厂成本增加而抢劫消费者口袋里的金钱，当然从做生意角度来说这无可厚非，但是以这个借口来欺骗广大消费者你们就大失人心了。
最后，个人觉得你AA拿瑞士手表来对比，这个你就过的太多了，瑞士手表多少年的历史？你一个AA多少年的从业经历？随便拎出一个手表品牌，人家的品牌价值是你十多年能够积累起来的吗？！说人家手表贵，那是人家物有所值，你要是能把1:18的模型做成加了汽油就能跑的模型，你卖的别说比手表贵了，你比劳斯莱斯幻影贵，那都有人买，问题是你做的出来吗？就你做的那些车模前轮的转向角度还想跟精密的瑞士名表比？估计你的脑子是被驴踢过了吧？还是被你的动脉血管被猪屎堵住了？造成脑部供血不足了？！
最后忠告AA一句中国的名言：“水能载舟亦能覆舟”。你失去了广大模型消费者的支持，你离土崩瓦解也就不远了。别说你只是一个模型的品牌商而已。
索尼C12
不行，还得接着说，AA，你说什么你的做工在进步，那我给你罗列一下，你进步的车型：
1:先说你销量最好的兰博基尼，哪一款进步了？你觉得你现在的门立起来了就进步了？回头看看你以前做的康塔什的液压支架，到后来几款兰博的阳痿，即便现在不阳痿了，但也是退步
2：CCX，这个车简直就是被你们糟蹋了，好东西白白糟蹋，你们做不好吗？我看就是不愿意做好，内饰比玛莎图还不如
3：你频频出各种涂装的保时捷系列，进步在哪儿？
再说一个最近的涨价，你的兰博基尼的670-4从149涨到了163，做工的进步是什么？！
王丁一鹏
我再来补几点：
4.LP670-4剪刀门内边缘为什么不涂黑，连早期的蝙蝠都不如；侧裙为什么要涂黑，该涂的不涂不该涂的涂，AA吃屎的啊；引擎盖液压杆为什么装反？剪刀门为什么都没有液压杆？包括LP640在内的前保杠为什么和车身做成一体而不分开做？侧灯为什么还是用涂的？
5.复刻的保时捷卡雷拉GT引擎盖液压杆为什么装反？
6.雷文顿尾部的扰流板为什么是做死的？
7.1:43的LP560侧面为什么没有LP560-4蚀刻片？
8.新出的43的车为什么要取消转向？
9.新出的车为什么不加避震？
10.为什么要赶工不好好做车？为什么不在包装上多下点功夫？
songtianlin
随着最近DB5的上市还有前段时间新上市的野马，大家讨论的异常热烈。总体论调是觉得不值1000+的价格，这一点是毋庸置疑的。玩家一致认为不值，难道AA总代会觉得值吗？我想也不会，但是，这是销售手段，这一点也毫无疑问。
对于这种激进的销售手段，平说评说。
可能AA 实在是觉得 中国大陆市场可有可无。省的国际市场流言蜚语，指指点点。确实，对于国外的经销商而言，中国的低价格是无法忍受的。
其实国外也有淘货的概念，但是，对于正常商品，价格控制的一般很稳定，鉴于AA把自己的商品与手表相提并论，就说说手表，比如瑞士各品牌的手表，全欧洲几乎一个价格。也许是牺牲掉大陆市场，能换得国际市场的繁荣吧。
另外就是，也许牺牲掉一些产品的中国大陆销量，来换得所有产品的价格整体高位，也能挣个钵满盆盈。呵呵，其实本身挣钱和市场占有率，虽然有关系，但这毕竟是两码事。
AA现在的做法也无异于牺牲市场占有率来换得利润，但是这个期间，市场占有率的下降就是对于竞争对手的培养。
现在中等合金模型，就是AA独大，这一点也是众人皆知的，外形、漆水（中档模型的核心）AA占全了，车型多、产量大。
往往在一个行业中的老大，不能总想着挣钱，市场占有率比利润更重要。所谓，逢强智取，遇弱活擒。靠市场占有率，挤压对手，往往更稳健，也更致命。
不过总之，也许AA 根本不拿中国大陆市场当回事，毕竟在中国，车模收藏的氛围还很薄弱。你爱买不买。
dafeng19841130
Why Are Model Cars Becoming Expensive – 14 Mar, 2011
The long Chinese New Year Holidays are now over and the workers are gradually coming back to the factories from their home towns. By now, their wages have increased another 20% under the new minimum wages requirements announced by the Chinese Government in February.
A decade ago, the average basic worker would receive a lump sum salary of 400 ~ 500 RMB Yuan per month. The exchange rate at that time was around 8.9 Yuan to the US Dollar, so this was equivalent to $50 ~ 60 US Dollars per month. This salary was based on an average of 60 hours per week, Monday to Saturday, working about 10 hours per day. This was the norm for the industry in China.
Since then, the minimum wages, China’s development, and China’s living standards have been advancing at an enormous rate. The cost of living in China has become much more expensive compared to only ten years ago, particularly in the housing market. Because of this, the government needed to act accordingly in order to offset the ever increasing living cost. This is when the government enforced the Labor Law in 2007 which was largely ignored previously by the industry. Under the law, the national weekly hours worked is 40 hours per week. Any overtime hours would be paid at a rate of 1.5 times on weekdays and double on weekends. Also, all of the retirement and social benefits would need to be added on top of their income. When all of these changes are applied, the average income for the basic worker increased drastically to around 1200 RMB Yuan per month. These drastic changes forced thousands of factories making products at low profits and were labor intensive to close down.
The global financial crisis erupted in late 2008, but China was able to recover quickly. By the end of 2009, everything was pretty much back to pre-crisis levels and in 2010, China’s economy continued to progress at a very quick pace. Housing prices went up at a staggering rate and food became more and more expensive. Workers earning the basic salaries could hardly keep up with supporting their basic needs. So, the wages needed to be adjusted again and again or else the workers would leave the factories and look for work elsewhere for higher paying jobs. Workers now do not want to work at a factory that will not guarantee 60 hours per week. They need the all the possible extra income generated by the overtime pay. It is not easy for factories today to utilize all the workers for 60 hours per week, especially during weekends. But since they now have no choice, it is making the cost of production much higher for factories in China.
As of today, the basic worker earns a lump sum of about 2,000 RMB Yuan per month. With the RMB Yuan exchange rate under enormous pressure form the USA and Europe, it is forced to appreciate gradually from 8.3 to 6.6 against the US Dollar. The average minimum wage now stands at around $300US Dollars per month. This means that the basic salary in US Dollars has increased almost 500% in the last ten years.
A high end die cast model car brand like Autoart is particularly hard hit when the labor cost increases. The proportion between the material cost and the labor cost is approximately 1:4 due to the hundreds of workers needed to manufacture each and every model car on the production line.
The licensing fees for the model cars are also getting higher every year. Back in the 1990’s, no car makers really paid any attention to their intellectual property and only demanded a symbolic fee when a model maker was willing to produce a model to promote their brand. When the profits from car sales became slimmer due to competition, the car makers looked at other alternatives to yield extra income and the licensing of brands became a very good source of revenue for the car makers. Licensing has become such a money maker that race organizers, oil companies, tire companies, etc, are all jumping in to get their share. Today, if a model maker decides to make a race car using a special color such as the Gulf Oil’s blue and orange, they would have to pay a fee to Gulf because of their patented color combination. Some models today can have double, triple or even quadruple licenses and the combined licensing fees can be more then 20% the ex-work price. Because of this, there are much less racing model cars being launched by model makers. It has become too expensive to make and fewer buyers would be willing to pay that price.
It was more profitable for Autoart to sell the model cars back in the early 2000’s with models retailing at around $50US then it is today with model prices retailing at triple the price. Both the model makers and the buyers were happier ten years ago when the material and energy cost were much lower and the factory workers were quite happy with earning only a fraction of today’s wages because life was much simpler and also cheaper then. Even with an increase of almost 500% in the minimum wages in such a small amount of time, the factory workers are still unhappy and will quit their jobs easily to look for work elsewhere to find higher wages.
Despite increasing the selling prices over and over again, it is still impossible to catch up with the ever increasing production cost. When prices increase, the number of collectors buying the model decreases thus reducing the quantity of models sold. This directly affects the amortization of the investment made by the model makers and it drives up the cost of production even further. Most die cast model makers, especially the high-end model makers suffer badly due to the lack of sales and the ever increasing cost of production.
To lower the production cost, it may be possible to move the production facility to another country that still offers low labor cost. However, no other countries can match the quality of workmanship done by Chinese workers. The detailing work and precise manipulation of such small parts with their fingertips is unmatched in the world. It is very difficult for other developing countries to emulate China on anything related to arts and crafts.
Even though the labor cost in China has increased so much in only a decade, China is still considered to be a low cost labor country with a current hourly rate of around $1.20US per hour. Until the mid 2000’s when the hourly rate was around $0.30US per hour, collectors were mostly spoiled with the low price models and now with such a fast increase in production cost, many collectors do not understand why the models are now at such a price.
An average 1/18 scale Autoart model car is now retailing at around $120 ~ 150US. The price is still considered to be very reasonable considering the amount of time and investment put in each model that is released. Each model consists of hundreds of parts takes about one year to develop and the production of each and every model involves hundreds of workers in the production line. Many products such as watches which also have hundreds of parts and are as complex to make demand much higher selling prices.The price of a high end model car will continue to increase as the labor cost and living standards improve in China. There will be fewer people buying model cars as prices increase, but the collectors who understand what is involved in making a high end diecast model will continue to appreciate the reasonable prices and quality being offered. They will understand that there are no other countries able to offer the same in terms of price and quality and that these are not just model cars but a work of arts.
Perception of quality – 4 Sep, 2009
There is a prevailing misconception amongst die-cast model collectors over the term “good quality”.
From a model-maker’s point of view, for a die-cast model to be deemed “good quality” it must satisfy the following basic requirements:
- the model should replicate as closely as possible the true scale of the original;
- the body should be painted evenly and in a consistent shade without ripples or an orange peel effect;
- the doors, bonnet and trunk should close tightly with any surrounding gaps fine and even;
- the plastic windscreen should be clear and without distortion;
- the headlights should be fitted to the body of the model without the attachment pins being visible;
- the chrome trim, bumpers and rocker panels should be aligned correctly.
Many collectors believe that a good quality model will inevitably be expensive and incorporate sophisticated features such as a movable gas filler cap, sun visor, glove box, roof top……etc. In fact, a model may have a relatively simple specification and sell at a standard price but still be considered good quality as long as the above criteria have been met.
Obviously, a good quality model requires more manual labor during production than a standard quality model. The cost of production is, therefore, higher. One of the most challenging tasks for a model-maker is to achieve a high quality and consistent paint finish on the body and the panels. Before proceeding, the entire body surface must be smoothed manually, area by area and panel by panel, so that the paint may be applied evenly and smoothly. When parts of the model such as the pillars are produced to the true scale, the resulting structure will be quite slim and delicate. Thus the trimming of the corners and edges must be done by careful manual filing. Any air inlet or outlet on the die-cast body can only be manually trimmed in order to achieve a genuine aperture. To have the doors and panels close perfectly with fine and even gaps requires weeks or even months of manual fine-tuning of the tooling. There are no shortcuts when striving to achieve a quality finish. No automated machine can replace trained human hands handling such delicate objects.
In order to enhance the quality, a model can be made with special intricate features provided that they look real, both in scale and texture. Common practice is to use photo-etching on metal parts to produce components such as the radiator grill, air inlet wire mesh, brake-rotors, steering wheel spokes and various emblems. The process allows the production of parts of minimal thickness with the texture and fine detail that closely resemble the real items. Moreover, real leather can be trimmed to be so thin as to permit the incorporation in the model of upholstered seats and window curtains made of real fabric. Using multi-link metal hinges can also simulate the actual movement of a real car bonnet.
There are, of course, technical constraints. For example, when the real object is made of steel 1mm thick it will be almost impossible to replicate the same in a 1:18 scale model using metal that is 18 times thinner but still retaining its three-dimensional form. There are many small features in a real car, such as wiper arms, nuts and bolts and some suspension parts, that look unreal and out of scale if they are replicated in metal. Some makers use photo-etching on metal to simulate the wiper arm, which can be made very thin, but the result is just a flat piece of metal lacking the three-dimensional form. Other makers use metal to replicate an articulated wiper arm but the resulting component often appears to be too thick and unrealistic. These practices may be considered to be overplaying the role of special features in the development of die-cast models. However, many collectors comment that a model bearing such features is of high quality and merits the high price demanded for it, despite the lack of realism and adherence to the true scale. In fact, there are high-priced models selling in the marketplace that bear intricate features on a body shell that is fundamentally out of shape and out of scale and body panels that do not meet closely and tightly. Such models are of poor quality despite the price and features.
Price adjustment – 1 Aug, 2008
China is experiencing the fastest economic growth of the modern era. This has brought with it rising living standards, massive investment in the country’s infrastructure and advances in technological achievement. Thus, Chinese consumers now make up the largest user base for mobile phones, are benefiting from a highway network rivaling that of the United States and have witnessed a Chinese astronaut being sent into space.
The downside of this economic success, however, has been the dramatic increase in the cost of raw materials to record levels due to the enormous demand. Inflation is now at its highest level for decades and the prices of foodstuffs, utilities and property rentals have risen significantly over the last eighteen months or so.
All die-cast model car makers are suffering badly due to the ever-increasing production costs. Model car manufacturing is a labor-intensive business. Since the second quarter of 2006 the average wage of an unskilled worker has more than doubled, from less than US$100 per month to more than US$200 nowadays (including food and accommodation). In the case of AUTOart, labor costs alone represent half of the product cost. Every model passes through several hundred pairs of hands during its conception. Record high oil prices have simultaneously driven the costs of energy and oil-based by-products such as plastic, paint and thinner to record levels. These increments have not been of the order of tens of per cent. Rather, the increases we have experienced have been in hundreds of percent. Furthermore, the cost of zinc used to cast the body along with the nuts and bolts needed for assembly has also risen more than threefold since the turn of the century.
A shortage of labor is no longer a major issue. Recently hundreds of factories in our region have been closing down every month due to the rising production costs described above. The recent earthquake has also made many people homeless, causing some to leave their home towns to search for work further afield. As long as we are willing to pay what they ask, we can hire sufficient labor for our needs. However, China no longer benefits from comparatively low labor costs. These are now much higher than in neighboring developing countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and India.
Since last year the revenue from selling our model cars has not covered our production costs. In short, we are losing money simply because our existing pricing is no longer viable, this despite a price adjustment not too long ago. We have been producing to a quality level that cannot be sustained in an era of labor and material costs that are close to double the levels we enjoyed at the turn of the century. Furthermore, the construction of our models is becoming progressively more sophisticated, resulting in a higher rejection rate and longer lead times, thus pushing the effective production costs even higher.
The high oil price is not likely to fall in the near future. There exists the general phenomenon around the world of rising prices coming up against income levels that are barely increasing. Real incomes are being squeezed, resulting in less disposable income being available for hobby items such as model cars. If sales volumes decline the amortization of our tooling costs will have to be calculated over lower quantities, thereby increasing the product cost significantly.
Regrettably, a further price increase is imminent and inevitable. This is the only way for AUTOart to continue providing the range and quality that the brand is known for. As toys our products are too expensive and inappropriate. As artifacts, however, they continue to represent terrific value for collectors who appreciate the investment, both financial and human, that go into the development of our model cars. Our dedication, experience and professionalism remain undiminished.
AUTOart Models – worth every cent! – 1 Oct, 2006
AUTOart is renowned as a maker of premium quality die-cast models. Replicating in meticulous detail a wide array of models produced by a variety of motor manufacturers, AUTOart represents authenticity down to the last detail. Recently they raised the bar for standards in model making by incorporating the long multi-color striping tampon process in the production of the recently introduced 1/18 BMW 3.0 CSL model (MSRP $114.95). Tampon printing involves the use of a soft polyurethane pad to transfer paint residue from the cavity of an etched stainless steel plate to the printed surface. It is a process that allows the printing of very fine detail on flat or curved panels. To achieve the standard required by AUTOart for the BMW, repeated reworking of the tampon prints was called for, with the high scrap rate contributing to the production cost.
The long multi-color striping tampon feature is a challenging, complicated and costly process, accounting for possibly 1/3 of the production cost of the model. To explain further, tampon printing has a width limitation. The real BMW 3.0 CSL race car has long multi-color striping all over the body. To accurately replicate this look on a model requires 155 precise tampon print transfers. Single or multiple tampon hits in one small print area in one color are fairly inexpensive and straightforward. However, to achieve 155 hits in multiple colors with precise accuracy is complex, with a high margin of error and a significant rejection rate. When a multi-color striped racing livery stretches across the car, the tampon striping process will involve multiple stamping to connect the striping and make it seamless and perfectly aligned. Even slight misalignment, particularly on curved body panels, will be obvious to the naked eye and the model will be flawed, calling for removal of the paint. This, in itself, is a painstaking process that adds to the cost. In the worst case scenario the body has to be scrapped. When the stripe is made up of three colors, the chance of misalignment is multiplied by three.
AUTOart insisted on using long multi-color tampon printing on the BMW 3.0 CSL because the end result is shiny and vibrant, true to the look of the real race car. Tampon printing also allows the color to sit securely on the surface of the paint without being scratched off easily. For premium collectible products, AUTOart believes this is the ideal method. There are similar scale models in the marketplace offered by competitors at marginally lower prices, where the long striping is applied with water decals. These are made with all the colors pre-printed on a flat piece of clear membrane attached to a piece of paper. When dipped into water, the pre-printed membrane separates from the paper and can be transferred onto the model. The water decal process is simple and less costly due to the low rejection rate and low scrap rate. However, there are disadvantages. The pre-printed colors on the clear membrane of water decals are lackluster and the membrane itself is fragile and susceptible to scratching. Furthermore, over a period of time the membrane will become brittle and experience yellowish discoloration, eventually making the model less desirable.
In addition to the long multi-color tampon printing, AUTOart’s BMW 3.0 CSL model requires a further 94 production processes for mask spraying of the colors and a further 15 processes to achieve the chrome-plating effect by hot stamping. Thus, a total of 264 production processes are involved that relate only to the color and race livery decoration of the model.
There is also the painting of the white main body after each panel and corner has been filed, polished, trimmed and buffed, the manual drilling during assembly of a total of 71 small holes for the attachment of various parts, and the milling and engraving, again manually, in ten areas. None of this can be done through automation due to critical angles and limitations in casting technology.
Evidently, a model like the BMW 3.0 CSL by AUTOart requires several hundred intricate procedures and over a year of development time before it can be made available on the world hobby market. Many collectors may not appreciate the expense and complexity involved in producing an AUTOart model. Each piece passes through the hands of hundreds of young employees with delicately trained fingers and the product is retailed at the price equivalent to roughly around one month salary of a basic worker in China. Imagine if the same model were to produce in the USA with the same processes, it would have cost more or less the same as one month salary of a basic worker in the USA. Bearing all this in mind, enjoy your AUTOart models for they are worth every cent!
The anatomy of AUTOart’s MotorSport Series: – 24 Apr, 2006
Our 1:18 Motorsport series, with sealed body panels, raised a lot of queries among the collectors why we are making die cast model cars with no engine, no opening doors and bonnets but yet still have a similar selling price to that of an AUTOart model with more features. Here are the answers:
Many top racing events, such as Formula One, LMP, DTM, WRC and Super GT (formerly known as JGTC), would not allow picture to be taken or research to be conducted on the race car’s interior by model makers due to the team’s unique and covert design of their suspension setup and engine arrangement, which would be closely guarded as a competitive advantage among their competitors. Because of this, there are no modern Formula One die cast models that are made with engine, even if they do, it is being made with assumption from limited sourcing of pictures from the press and magazines. The dimension will never be accurate and many small details are also incorrectly replicated. Other model makers went as far as placing a standard production car engine into a WRC rally car, just so that the model launched into the market may have an engine inside when the hood is opened in order to please the buyers who are mainly non collectors with little knowledge about racing cars. For this primary reason, the AUTOart Motorsport series was launched, offering modern day racing model cars that lack engine or opening features and emphasizes on perfecting the exterior features. It is meaningless to replicate an incorrect engine in a model just for the sake that the model should have an engine. For many model collectors, the most important thing for a die cast model car is to have the body shape replicated as accurately as possible to the real race car, since that is the first impression. The interior, such as engine and boot, is secondary. Unlike classic racing cars of which the engines expose all the ram pipes, wiring harnesses and small parts that become nice features on a die cast model car, modern racing car engines are mostly covered with large air intake boxes with little engine detail to review which can hardly be a nice feature in a model car. As a matter of fact, when collectors buy a model car, he or she would open the bonnets or doors once or twice and the rest of the time the model is being displayed with the doors and bonnets closed.
Another reason we are making the subject matter under Motorsport series is that sometime the car manufacture or racing teams insists the die cast model cars to be launched within a year or so of the actual cars that are still competing and only a model without opening features will be feasible to realize the project because the development process requires only seven months rather than 10-12 months for a model with full openings.
Making a model car without opening doors and bonnets will save 10% to 15% of production cost. However, the Motorsport series consist of many special features not seen in previous model making of which the production cost can easily increase to 20% to 30% more expensive than our traditional AUTOart Racing series with openings. Therefore, it is not a cost saving approach when introducing Motorsport series without opening.
Modern racing cars are getting more complicated in their shape with a lot of vents, slots, fins, cooling ducts, aerodynamic aids and etc.; it is a huge challenge to replicate these features in die cast model making which are 18 times smaller in scale due to the limitation of the injection and casting technology. In order to replicate these features in our Motorsport series as closest to the real racing car, intensive labor have to be done manually. The opening of the small slots and vents on metal bonnets and fenders require the use of trimming machine, painstakingly trimmed away the zinc metal bit by bit in order to make them become through holes. Other manufactures would attempt the short cut method and use creative decals to achieve the substandard result. Some racing models require attention to more than 20 such areas and such time consuming and labor intensive trimming process are not commonly found in die cast model retailing for less than a hundred Dollars.
Another significant feature worth noting about our Motorsport series is the stance of a racing car. Precise ride height, fender flare and clearance of the tires are critical to achieving the aggressive high performance appearance of the race car as compared to a standard street car. Replicating the correct ride height and fender clearance of a modern racing car is one of the main challenges for a die cast model maker. Zinc metal casting technology limits the thickness of the fender to a minimum of 1mm, which in real car term, is 18mm under the scale of 1:18. The actual racing car fender is less than 1mm in thickness and the rubber tires are so close to the fenders that they are almost touching each other, so in order to attain the same appearance on a model car, the metal fender lips have to be trimmed by machine manually to make it as thin as possible without breaking it so that the rubber tires can be fitted close to the fenders. This feature can never be achieved in a mass market product at which the selling price would limit the amount of manual work on trimming and polishing.
To perfect the racing livery with sharp and shinny colors, tampon printing is used in most part of the body in Motorsports series. Racing cars with complicated multi-colors livery require over two hundreds hits of tampon print, because each hit can only consist of one color on one spot not more than two inches in size. Many model makers would use a much simpler cost saving method by applying water transfer multi-color decals to avoid numerous repetition of tampon printing. The problem with decal is that the color is dull, it will have a border and it may get cracked easily and became yellowish when aged. If a clear coating is applied on the decal, the layer is too thick which would blur the fine detail of the body lines and gaps.
All the panels, edges and splitting lines are manually polished and filed to the best possible surface fineness. After applying the paint, the surface has to be buffed by real car wax so that the finish is exceptionally smooth and shinny. The process is in fact very similar to the painting of a real car.
Photo etching metal pieces are being used for delicate parts that cannot be replicated precisely by injection plastic/metal such as mesh grill, tow hook and latches. The photo etching metal pieces will give a realistic shape in the scale but they are expensive to produce which will greatly affect the production cost and therefore no mass market product will implement this feature. Motorsport series apply photo etching metal pieces in many areas in order to give the model a realistic appearance.
Also another important feature on the Motorsport series that we put high emphasis on is the wheel and brake. The brake disc rotors are made of photo etching metal, put together piece by piece and then placed on a rotating platform to manually sand in the hairline texture to simulate the exact braking surface found on the real brake rotor. AUTOart also produces wheels for real car application for use in racing and street, so these wheel experts are also utilized in the factory for the development of the model car’s wheels. This is how we can ensure that the wheels on our model cars are being replicated in the best possible scale, contour and finishes. Many car designers would emphasize the wheel is the soul of the car, making the wheels correctly and nicely on a model car is one of the most important mission for AUTOart. In summary, the introduction of Motorsport series has elevated the standard of quality of a racing die cast models car that retails within the range of a hundred dollars.
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