Featured Deutsche Post van

Source: Deutsche Post van signals new entrant threat to auto industry| Reuters

With e-commerce orders rising, Deutsche Post knew increasing inner city delivery trips would mean more pollution unless it switched to zero-emission vehicles. "We scanned the market. There was no electric van available so we decided to build our own," Deutsche Post board member Juergen Gerdes told Reuters.

Electric vehicles - which are far simpler in design than combustion engined cars - require only a tenth of the staff during assembly, dramatically lowering production costs.

"We designed it as a tool. So the fit and finish does not need to be as good as in a passenger car," Neidlinger said.

The vans are designed to last 16 years, stay in use for six days a week and for 10 hours at a time. They need some particularly robust components, such as doors that can be opened and closed up to 200 times a day.
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Now the essential part of this story is how out-sourcing key technology in effect 'disassembles' an auto company. In this case, VW lost control of a product line … actually VW had first refusal to make an electric delivery van. So the customer, a logistics company rolled their own. From the article:

VOLKSWAGEN UNAMUSED

Volkswagen, whose Caddy vans are being phased out by Deutsche Post in favor of Streetscooters, is among the established carmakers unamused by missing out on the project.

"I am annoyed beyond measure. I, of course, ask myself why Post did not talk to our VW Commercial vehicles division about doing something similar," Chief Executive Matthias Mueller said. "Let's see if we can still get a foot in the door there."

Analysts say Deutsche Post has shown the motor industry's shortcomings. "They have opened up a new segment, one which the conventional carmakers have not discovered because they are too hamstrung by their own processes," said Christoph Stuermer of PWC.​

I am reminded how many early plug-ins were 'home-grown', modified Prius. Today, you can hardly 'swing a critter' without hitting one … well maybe not that popular, yet, but we got one in May. Certainly plug-ins are popular in PriusChat. But our favorite manufacturer has been 'slow to the party.'

Speculation, perhaps the future is agile manufacturing that assembles and integrates cars built-to-order. Perhaps like Tesla and their 300,000, pre-ordered Model 3.

Bob Wilson