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Originally Posted by tw
Well, the Chevy Volt even could not work a few years ago when they tried to demonstrate it to a PBS show. The Volt was supposed to be out already. Something happened. The Chevy Volt is now scheduled for sale at the end of 2010. Was it delayed because car guys finally got control of the car? Are now trying to fix fundamental defects? Or do defect exist because bean counters have still subverted reliability? I cannot learn anything.
We can suspect the Volt is delayed to make something better. Just not known is why.
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Maybe the volt is dodgy, but the bean counters are forcing them to put it on sale anyway. Just a thought.
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Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla
Makes you rethink the whole antitrust idea -- after all, is not the free market itself firmly and naturally anti-monopoly...?
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No. Well, not always. Bigger companies have an advantage over smaller companies (economies of scale, bargaining power, ability to survive lean times etc) and can often take over or put out of business smaller competitors. This tends toward monopoly, or at least oligopoly.
Now you might reply that ...
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Competitors barrel-roll in, many with what they hope is improved or just plain better technology than the pioneer outfit is using, to fill this need that has come up.
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Maybe if you're thinking of lemonade stands, but the cost of starting a car company must be in the billions, before the first sale. How many car company start ups have there been recently?
That said, if a company really did back off from improving their products out of fear of antitrust action, something has gone very wrong.
The market won't solve all our problems, but neither will the government.