Quote Originally Posted by hein View Post
Quality of materials and workmanship were not WORLD CLASS. Sad to say.


What the #$%*!? A single center vent for a 7 seater PHUV? The passengewr are going to die in the heat. Don't naman scrimp to much.


Using straps for door stops were used in Henry Ford's Model T car. Jeez!!!
Wow, are those aluminum window cross braces?

Lets admit it, while it leaves much to be desired, it's a START. I'm sure that the tsikot phuv prototype participants can come up with something better, esp. now that the mvpmap proto has paved the way. We learn from DOING, ika nga.

Hein, you've proven your point, but do you have anything constructive to add regarding our production capabilities? So it seems that sheet metal fabrication isn't our strongest suit, has anyone considered other molded materials? The first Saturns here in the USA had mostly fiberglass body panels. Also, do we have alternatives when it comes to other materials?

I'm going to chime in with my limited production experience here, as I am basically already doing what you guys are trying to do, albeit with a different product. I make airguns that are competetive in the world market, they are very different from your run-of-the-mill locally produced airguns in that we use quality imported materials like T6 aluminum, carbon fiber, etc, and use western technology to make them perform better. I've noticed that these materials are prohibively expensive when sourced in the Philippines, but they are 10x cheaper when bought in the USA or other countries. What makes them expensive is the ridiculous taxation schemes that are imposed by the govt. I believe that if you have govt support, you can source materials from other countries that will make the production of a viable Phuv cheaper with better materials. We just have to accept that some things are just made better elsewhere, like aluminum, steel, etc. Our limited 3rd world production capabilities actually make these materials more expensive (and sometimes inferior). Since mass production drives costs DOWN, maybe we should look at industries in other countries that can do it better and import materials from them (china is one..).

I know it can be done because even with all my imported materials, I'm priced even lower than my competition who use all locally sourced materials.

Just my 2 cents...I don't pretend to know much about automotive fabrication, my forte is marketing. If you build it, I know I can sell it.