sometimes i just dont get Toyota or to be honest other manufacturers. They are going into such huge effort and spend to develop new models of cars but then start to slice and dice it toward the different markets. it is so not cost effective to create different wiring to the same car, and dealing with so much changes and variations that each market has. There is a thread that talk about the perfect plugin prius. - auto dimming mirror - auto door locks - reversing camera - HUD - Sat Nav in the HUD - slightly more power - keeping the full electric power over 70% of throttle - automatic head lights and the list goes oon ...... Toyota, keep the wiring in its place, then leave it to the specific individuals to add these features as options or not....
Lets see, there are countries that drive on the left, and drive on the right, countries that are metric or English traditional measure, EU headlight rules differ from SAE headlight rules and Canadians demand DRLs. Koreans think fans can kill you while Americans think big wheels are premium wheels. I doubt you are going to solve these issues so you can have one model.
Why have so many different makes of cars? Why have so many different models for each make? Its a self adjusting system. Ask the the Pontiac and Plymouth owners.
Although, I don't see any particular reason, why our EU models can't have speed dependant auto door lock, pre-collision detection, DVD player, ability to set up your own startup and shutdown pictures on sat-nav... I have a top trim model (called "Executive" over here), but found out later, it still has less features than US "Advanced".
This is a bit of thread creep but I wonder if you could install the U.S. based versions of the software that would enable those features....
Why do the manufacturers insist that Europeans like hard suspension and heavy steering? Toyota have historically had softer suspensions in line with the JDM & US markets, but more recently are hardening it up. Our roads are knackered and full of holes and speed bumps and this is where softer suspension wins out. We (me and Mrs Cabbie) purchased Toyotas BECAUSE they're nice and comfortable with light steering. If we wanted heavy steering and hard suspension we'd have kept the Honda. But it's all the focus groups at the car manufacturer that ruins it. VW have made a specific US version of the Passat that's bigger than the European version, with bigger less efficient engines. The reason for the Passat in the past was that it was an economical European car. Now it may as well be just another oversized American gas guzzler. But I'm sure the focus groups said "the Passat would be better if it were bigger, faster, built locally etc" A lot of manufacturers forget their reason for being in the quest for more sales. The Prius is a reasonably sized, economical car, yet some on here want it to be quicker at the expense of economy and maybe a bit quicker, again at the expensive of economy, and before you know it it'll become a large 4 litre gas guzzler with a specific US version different to elsewhere.
Metric vs imperial this is is a button on my PiP. Push it anfls you move between the measurements. Right hand vs Left hand agree with that. Still these are two markets. I can understand and accept cosmetic features as larger wheels, chrome finishs, fans, DRLs etc. In my old volvo you could set the lights on or off same with the BMW. It is still does not explain why toyota or other manufacturer dont save money on wiring, and option list by pre installing them as a whole, singe manufacturing line. Porsche as an example, the wiring harness world wide is identical. One main bus, if you have ordered the features or not. I drive a Cayenne, got the basic model and added features as i found then needed later. Quick drive to Porsche to actibate them. That is if you fancy adding them later its a plug and play model. I asked them if it is not more expensive and their comment was 11% saving in simplifying the production line. Its also enables them to accept clients request to add features after the car was delivered. But ....
Porsche has much smaller production runs, so the engineering and supply chain costs of multiple variations are amortized over fewer units. The variations make far more economic sense for the higher volume manufacturers.
The Gen I Prius was actually designed as a "world car" meant to be suitable for a large slice of the worlds population. By now it is speciating to better match up with particular uses. Maybe we should let the experienced manufacturers decide about this? the plugin/Advanced has all but two of these already. I wouldn't mind this.
There are World cars and world cars. The Prius is designed as a world car but it is also slightly modified for the different markets. Some places need heated seats, others don't. In the UK we need heated side mirrors whereas other places need folding mirrors. Our law requires the fitment of a high intensity rear fog light. The US requires amber side markers at the front and red at the rear. Some markets don't mind those, others insist on amber front and rear. So why put the wiring in for a light that will never be used? Multiply that wiring by tens or hundreds of thousands of cars and the costs mount up for no reason. Similar things apply to headlights. The European versions have to allow converters for LHD to RHD, should a LHD car visit a RHD country or vice versa - other wise the beams are wrong and blind oncoming vehicles. This is of no use to the US/Canadian market, nor the JDM. I believe it is also illegal for a European car to blip when you lock it. Ours just clunk and the hazards flash 3 times, whereas you allow cars to beep the horn or beep beep when locking. I'm sure there are many other examples.
Two words - regional preferences. (and other legalities like rules and regulations that Grumpy mentioned above).
