THE ROLE OF THE

Introduction to the Automobile Industry 3
table 1.1
vehicle option Package and attributes
vehicle option
Package
towing
capacity
(In Pounds)
Feature comfort
option level
1 13,000 13
2 13,000 10
3 17,000 8
4 17,000 6
5 19,000 4
6 19,000 2
7 21,000 2
8 21,000 1
To take a fictional example, in Table 1.1 we examine eight option packages
within the same platform (i.e., same frame and vehicle family) on a truck application.
Obviously, many other factors would come into play, but for simplicity’s
sake we will examine only towing capacity and comfort package options. These
comfort options include things in a package such as antilock braking, power seats,
heated seats, automatic air conditioning, and luxury interior. Towing capacity was
chosen due to its effect on the power train, which in turn affects fuel economy.
The towing capacity will also affect the front end airflow, which in turn affects
the styling of fascia design and coefficient of drag. Suppose now that we plot
vehicle options as a function of towing capacity versus feature comfort level in
Figure 1.1.
This curve is called an indifference curve. Higher levels of satisfaction can be
realized by manipulating these curves by offering more of one feature or another
and altering the tremendous number of variables in which people are interested (e.g.,
Feature Comfort Level
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Indifference Curve
13000 13000 17000 17000 19000 19000 21000
Towing Capacity
FIgure 1.1 Indifference curve of comfort level versus towing capacity.