I know I've griped somewhere else around here about the money that people throw at things. Occasionally all of us become privy to inside info. I realize that these figures are out of date but they're still relevant in a way.
In the mid to late '70s regular shocks (Monroe, Gabriel, etc.) cost the manufacturer less than $3 each to produce (my memory may not be right but I'm thinking it was actually 50 cents per shock.) Koni claimed their's cost $6 each. They were retailing for around $40-$60 then.
When Chrysler debuted the Grand Cherokee they dropped the price of the older model in order to not over price the new unit. That lasted for one season. The next year they upped the price on the Grand and returned the price of the old model to its former price. They said their original plans to discontinue the older model's production was shelved as they were still selling them at a phenomenal rate and the margin was the best in the fleet. At that time they claimed the average Cherokee cost them $6000 to produce and they were selling for $15,000 - $22,000.
Boy, have I/we steered this thread totally off course?
