"Rod Speed" wrote in message
...


"Roger Mills" wrote in message
...
On 05/06/2016 12:11, tim... wrote:

"Roger Mills" wrote in message
...
On 04/06/2016 16:23, DerbyBorn wrote:
What is it that tends to define the typical specification of cars
imported
into a particular country?

Some countries I have been to do not seem to have reversing sensors
over a
time when they have become commonplace in the UK.

Cruise Control whilst unusual in the UK is very common across all
classes
of car in other countries.

I suppose other additions like GPS / SatNav are a bit country
specific.


I can see how an Importer of one brand would make a decision, but this
seems to go across brands.

All of these things are available everywhere as options - even on low
end cars.

As a manufacture fit they are most certainly not available on low end
cars.



I'm not sure which low end cars you have in mind, but thinks like power
steering, anti-lock brakes, air conditioning, etc. - which were at one
time only available on luxury cars - are now available either by default
or as factory fit options on pretty much everything.

There are plenty of low end cars which don't have manufacturer options
for GPS / Satnav, essentially because so many use their smartphone for
that.

OTOH, if there is an easy aftermarket fit then there is no incentive value
forcing the driver to upgrade a model class to get that toy and thus more
incentive to offer it as a manufacturing option.

And for this particular option it is now getting to the point where it is
cheaper for a manufacturer to specify a "smart" centre console in all of
their cars that muck around with two different supply chains.

Once you have a smart centre console, sat nav is just a software upgrade
(and the addition of a GPS aerial - the wiring for which will probably
already be in situ for the same reason as above)

tim