Quote:
Originally Posted by Tannaton
"The rights re materials and construction and performance are not the property of Volvo " - oh yes they are!
You're missing the point... take brake pads for example. The mix of ingredients to make the friction material is the intellectual property of Volvo who over many years of their own research and with partners have amassed a considerable knowledge on the topic. Volvo will instruct several manufacturers to make their brake pads using that mix - they will pay x per unit and in that contract they will specifically prohibit that manufacturer using that mix for any other product or selling the Volvo pads under any other route. Any tools or forms required are another issue - usually the cost of creating them are amortised over the contract and yes as you elude to the manufacturer will also be restricted from using that tooling for any other customer - which is exactly why brake pads from the same OEM manufacturer under their own label will not only have a different brake pad mix (likely inferior) - they might not even fit as well...
Just as Tesco or Sainsbury's own label baked beans or strawberry jam will never be exactly the same as the the independent brand in whose factory they are made...
It's not just Volvo - Many of Jaguar Land Rover brake parts come from the Teves factory in Ebbw Vale in Wales - it's the same there. You can even have bespoke colour coded brake calipers on your new Jag/Landy but you cannot buy them (or the genuine brake pads) through any other route than the dealer network.
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Are you seriously suggesting that Volvo will develop a friction material and then tell a friction material supplier that they must use that mix? Do you not think that the friction material supplier knows a lot more about their product than Volvo? It is after all their business.
My experience of automotive brands including but not limited to Volvo is that they will issue a performance spec and drawings to several approved suppliers who will then design and offer a product to meet the spec and drawing. The product is then tested and those that meet the requirements will provide pricing and the battle with the buying department starts. Usually the best value wins the deal. Tooling is either amortised or subject to a separate purchase order.
That is how it works
Now, you have for the sake of argument, 2 suppliers deemed suitable and bidding. Supplier A wins on value which leaves supplier B with costs that he cannot recover and for which he has made tooling that he has paid for. He is quite at liberty to sell that product under his own brand as suitable for X vehicle.
A far cry from wiper blades. It is ludicrous to suggest that Volvo would design a wiper blade and tell Bosch etc to make it like that. It is stretching credulity far too far. They would ask for a blade with a performance and dimension to suit their requirements and be smart enough to let the experts do the rest.
Unless of course you believe that Volvo are the experts for every component that they use?
That is my last word on the subject as any suggestion that Volvo are not unique seems to stir up a hornets nest.