| Author |
 Topic  |
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allanbach
Colombia
44 Posts |
 Posted - June 07 2005 : 01:29:10 AM
I have a question about the Kitcar industry.how many KITCARS/REPLICAS/CUSTOM CARS are sold in USA ?
EUROPE ?
WORLDWIDE? I mean how big is the industry compared to the production cars!
Thanks!!! ALLAN B. |
kitcarguy
535 Posts |
Posted - June 08 2005 : 4:50:09 PM
Hmmm cant put a number on it . a small fraction of the car market i would say
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derwin
Canada
51 Posts |
Posted - June 09 2005 : 4:12:14 PM
Well considering Factory Five is considered one of the largest if not the largest in *NA*. And they dont put out that many .. I would put the number in the hundreds or low thousands be year .. strike that. No way there is more than a 1000 per year being made. The UK may be a different story. The UK might be in the low 1000s. Most replica dealers are lucky to do 2 or 3 sales a year the better ones do 2 to 3 a month.
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stormbringer
USA
116 Posts |
Posted - June 10 2005 : 10:31:34 AM
There are more then 1000 made in the US any given year, heck we sell 500 sb100 numbers in two days out here in california at the begining of every year. If you don't count all the glass 32 ford's and the like being built each year in somebodies garage I would say closer to 3000 or so. FFR sells about 700 kits a year if I am not mistaken.
88 Mera GTS. (Sunnny Day Car)
~97 Thunderranch Riot (Drive like a maniac track car)
04 F140 Lariat. (Dump truck/People Mover)
600+ HP Shelly Valley Cobra (Enzo Who)
03 Vintage Speedster (Sold)
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derwin
Canada
51 Posts |
Posted - June 10 2005 : 9:13:58 PM
This is an interesting discussion...
Admittedly 32 fords and such "custom cars" are hard to quantify. I am actually not trying to include them even thou the subject includes them. I am thinking "true" kit cars .. I know, I know, even that definition is debatable. Hot Rods are not sold .. they are built by original owner? or is that a stetch? As for Factory Five .. # of kits sold does not equal # of kitcars made road worthy. I see FFR # 5xxx out there so I guess they have shipped atleast 5000+ kits since they started ..
So if they build 700 cars per year, and 250 working days a year or so .. do they actually complete 2-3 cars per day! Wow that would be impressive. Some how I doubt it. Is there anybody even close to FFR for selling cars? Anybody else selling more than a couple cars a month? Perhaps IFG but I think they sell more kits then cars. I still stick with under a 1000, tops ..
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derwin
Canada
51 Posts |
Posted - June 13 2005 : 7:19:03 PM
I just read in KCB, that Mike Vetter aka www.kitcar.cc produces 7 or 8 cars per year..
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allanbach
Colombia
44 Posts |
Posted - June 16 2005 : 1:06:57 PM
Yes derwin when i posted the topic I was thinking in "true" kit cars, like Attacks and Cobra replicas..., well, then, with those numbers thinking "in the world" taking out USA and UK will be at most 200 kits or maybe less.....this is more a hobbie than a good business.Why do you think guys the cause of this low numbers! kitcars are awesome!, but quite unknown...?? the people dont trust them??, what is it??
Thanks! ;)
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derwin
Canada
51 Posts |
Posted - June 16 2005 : 8:10:26 PM
Well I think the ******* lawyers have something to do with it along with the reputation the kit cars have of being some vw crap. Its only recently the market has swung really hard the other way. Going from 2000 kits to 60,000 show stopping replicas. Most replica/ kit car dealers are really car & body shops who do a couple cars on the side. Just think of the markup they must have to do business selling only 5-8 cars a year. Only the likes of Factory Five can make a living and be able to employ 10-20-30-?? employees and still turn a profit. By making quite a few kits in the early stages then moving into turnkeys and not super-car turnkeys can they make a business of it.
Reminds me of my local pizza shops .. they think everyone wants pizza, then they realize that they would have to sell 100 pizzas every night to stay in business. Hard to do in a town of 1000 and alas they go out of business ..
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Michael Everson
USA
93 Posts |
Posted - June 17 2005 : 7:47:22 PM
I am pretty knowledgeable about FFRs sales of kits. I can tell you that they have been averaging 15 kits per week for several years. YES 15 per week thats about 750 kits a year. that is a ton of Cobras and Daytonas. they have been in business since 1995 and have steadily increased sales every year since. When I bought my kit in 1997 I think they were shipping about 2 kits a week.
No other kit car company even comes close to there numbers in the U.S. Imagine if some company came out with a Diablo or Merci kit using there same principals and business practices??www.replicaparts.com |
Kitcar industry
