How much does labor cost to build a new car?

Answer 1

In the US, it takes about 30 hours total, for the body, engine, transmission, assembly, paint, etc. doesn't include things like outsourced parts and mining the ore (or recycling old cars). the labor costs from $55-$70 per hour including benefits so about $2100 per car, or roughly 8% the cost of the average car. doesn't sound that high until you compare the Tata Nano, which costs $2500 total. Labor costs are higher at companies with older presences, because they tend to have more expensive health care, larger families, and because the pensions become more expensive over time. national health care and pensions would make doing business a lot easier. Ford and GM pay ~$70 and Toyota pays ~$55 [Source(s) unknown]. $70/hr sounds like a ton of money, but starting wage for laborers is only about $14/hr, which is barely enough to pay the bills in the US. The top earners make $29/hr. Health care and pensions cost equivalent of about $15/hr, vacation time, overtime, sick leave are the equivalent of roughly $10 per hour. Benefits for retirees are roughly $15/hr (this isn't really wages by most definitions but ends up in all the reports). Maybe its time for the US government to step up and provide reasonable health care for working and retired people who pay taxes all their lives? [Source(s) unknown]

The difference in *time to build a car* between manufacturers is small (10% difference from worst to best). So the difference in *cost to build a car* between Ford's and Toyota's labor cost per vehicle is $15/hr * 30 hours + $70/hr * 2hrs, or roughly $600 , or < 3% of total cost. Source unknown.

Another question to ask is how much does *overhead* cost to build a new car? How much in management, paper pushing, legal fees, etc. Also, instead of beating that old dead horse of the cost of labor (heard it since the 70's!), it might be interesting to know why some manufacturers have better looking, more fun to drive, more reliable vehicles. Making a better organized dashboard is free.... so who are the managers that think this is a bad idea? Who was the brains behind the Pontiac Aztec? Why does GM use cheap plastic instead of more sturdy stuff for $5 more? There are great designers, engineers, craftsmen, and business people in the US. They just don't work in lofty places at the big 3 [Source(s) unknown]!

The cost of a car or just about anything is the cost of labor. The labor to make the robots that assemble the cars, the labor to build the buildings. the labor for outsourced parts, and even the labor earnings that was invested to buy the land.