Empire Rising: Spain

Workers can keep two parts looking and functioning the same, but it’s impossible to keep two cars identical in appearance and structure.

Handcrafted production is destined to have some differences, and these differences lead to high maintenance costs for handmade cars, sometimes even making repairs difficult.

By adopting the assembly line production method, where one worker is responsible for producing just one part, differences between different cars can be reduced, as well as the maintenance costs of cars.

If a person focuses on producing just one part, it can effectively improve the worker’s efficiency. With increased efficiency, the time required for car production naturally decreases.

Benz was quite excited about Carlo’s proposed assembly line production method. If production follows this method, the output of the car company can double several times at any time, or even increase more than tenfold within a year.

Based on the current annual car production of 500 vehicles, if it can increase tenfold, this means the car company could produce 5,000 vehicles a year.

Such an annual output can already meet the preliminary expansion of the automobile market. If the car’s performance meets Carlo’s expectations, this represents that the car is about to enter commercialization, and the car company is about to usher in its golden age.

After the not-so-lengthy introduction of the car factory, Carlo and Benz and others arrived at the square behind the car factory to inspect the newly built cars.

Benz continued to introduce to Carlo: "Your Majesty, please see, this is our latest car. We’ve adopted the newly developed engine from the experimental engine lab, codenamed EG-3. This engine provides approximately 35 horsepower, propelling the car forward at a faster speed.

We’ve also made some modifications to the tires. Compared to previous car tires, the width of the current car tires has reached 6 inches, providing a stronger grip.

We’ve added spring suspensions to each tire, effectively reducing the bumpiness when the car runs at full speed. According to our preliminary tests, the car’s maximum speed can now reach 40 kilometers per hour, and it can steadily travel at least 500 kilometers."

Carlo nodded again, fairly satisfied with the current data of the car.

A speed of 40 kilometers per hour is already a huge improvement compared to horse carriages. Being able to steadily travel 500 kilometers is approximately the distance from Madrid to Barcelona.

At a maximum speed of 40 kilometers per hour, continuously driving 500 kilometers requires 13 hours. Who could drive a car continuously for 13 hours?

Cars nowadays do not have power steering, and turning the car relies entirely on one’s arm strength. In other words, no one could persist in driving a car continuously for 13 hours, not even Superman.

This also means that by setting up a car maintenance station every few hundred kilometers within Spain, cars can achieve commercialization.

Of course, gas stations are also very necessary. After all, a car without fuel cannot run; without fuel, a car is not even worth a single hair of a horse.

"What is the cost of such a car?" Carlo inquired.

Cost is an extremely critical factor determining whether cars can attract the market’s favor.

If the cost of the car is too high, it also means that the price of the car cannot be low. Excessive pricing will affect people’s choices, and sometimes people would rather opt for a cheaper horse carriage than enjoy a faster yet more expensive car.

"Currently, the cost of the cars we’ve built is 12,600 Pesseta. If we can increase the speed of car production using the assembly line method, the cost of cars can at least be reduced to below 10,000 Pesseta." Benz replied.

Carlo shook his head, dissatisfied with the current cost of the car. 12,600 Pesseta is not a small number, amounting to 484.6 Pounds, or 2,423 US Dollars.

Such figures are simply unaffordable for ordinary families, which also means that the users of cars will be limited to the nobility and capitalists, even the middle class could not afford them.

"We must find a way to keep the cost of cars below 6,000 Pesseta to attract more people to buy our cars.

Of course, this is not a short-term goal. In the short term, it is only necessary to reduce costs to 10,000 Pesseta to move towards commercialization." Carlo evaluated.

Reducing costs to 6,000 Pesseta will make cars affordable for the middle class.

Before this, cars were always luxury items for the nobility and the wealthy. But even combining all the nobility and capitalists worldwide, there is a considerable number, and the early expansion of cars is completely sufficient.

After the assembly line production effectively reduces the cost of cars, it won’t be too late to consider selling cars to the middle class and the public.

Ford Company’s historical use of assembly line technology, coupled with cost reductions from mass production, reduced the cost of cars to 260 US Dollars, equivalent to 52 Pounds.

Such a cost is quite astounding, at least currently, Spain’s car companies are far from achieving that.

Based on the production cost of 260 US Dollars for the Ford Company Model T, this equates to only 1,352 Pesseta, roughly one-tenth of the current car production cost in Spain.

Let alone 1,352 Pesseta, even reducing the cost to below 10,000 Pesseta requires some time to achieve.