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Comment by bikamonki | Hacker News Reader

How exactly is £10-15000 cheap in developing countries?

The real cost hits over years of use. These things will effectively last forever, as each part can be replaced as needed. There is plenty of money in developing countries, just poorly distributed. You can easily see how the Ox would pay for itself in reducing transport costs to/from remoter communities.

Also, the price will fall, these trucks will be sold second, third, tenth hand... Same as with "expensive" mobile phones in years past.

> These things will effectively last forever, as each part can be replaced as needed.

You will find that Toyota comfortably holds this niche in most developing countries. Toyotas are reliable, and there's a glut of cheap Toyota spares due to network effects. The only advantage the Ox has over a Toyota Hilux is that it can carry about 800kg more (about double). On all other points, the Hilux is ahead or on par.

There's a caveat... it's the old, pre-2000s Toyota Hilux cars that are durable and easy to repair. A newer Hilux isn't as simple and reliable as the old ones, and the old ones are in short supply.

Although the new Hilux cars seem to be quite popular in Africa and Middle East too. Perhaps it's the brand, or perhaps there are some similarities (or even interchangeable parts) that make it desirable.

Potential buyers in developing countries don't just take broken cars to the fancy service stations to get them fixed by the licensed mechanics. They do most of repairs themselves with whatever scrap parts they can find for few bucks. I really, really doubt Ox could provide cheaper spare parts. Also, for big portion of people around the world that have no stable income and access to credit, it's much easier to pay 2k$ or so for an old truck and and get additional money for repairs when it's needed (or even buy another 2k$ truck) than paying 10-12k$ even if that means zero expenses (which is unrealistic) over time.

The thing is made with a steel tube frame and plywood panels. And if you look at the pictures there's a lack of compound curves. So it seems to me that a lot of repairs can be done in a very basic workshop, without having to order spare parts from abroad.

Yeah, that was my first mind too. Nobody, bar few magnates, in developing world buys new cars. You can get a used truck for few thousand or less bucks there. Nice idea, but I really doubt we will see many of these trucks used for its intended purpose.

And how much do you think a used Ox will go for? Not to mention the increased storage and versatility.

Not the OP, and I do not live in Africa, but in Eastern Europe, where paying 10-15,000 euros/pounds/$ for a car is also seen as expensive by a lot of people (I couldn't afford it, that's for sure).

Looking on the roads around me the VW T3 is really popular around here for people who want to get things done, you can find decent enough examples at around 800-1000 euros (I know because I also looked at purchasing one). The repairs are easy to do, lots of spare parts available, and if you think diesel is too expensive you can always install a LPG system on it and now it becomes even cheaper to run it. Unfortunately the next T4 model is a little too big.

For a similar example that comes from Eastern Europe also look at UAZ-452 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UAZ-452), that's a very durable and reasonably cheap car that can handle almost anything.

I love how the Wikipedia page for the UAZ-452 highlights from the 2011 upgrade the exciting new feature "seat belts". I was going to ask about airbags, silly me.

I live in Ethiopia. The import tax for a car is about 150%. So a second hand Toyota Corolla ends up costing about $35K.

I don't know if you can answer this, but does it apply to "kit" cars too? This car is supposed to be shipped unassembled and you can probably source a used (or even new) Ford Transit engine.

The article does mention taxes and customs as one motivator for this design.

You would be surprised. My friend is currently living in Moshi, Tanzania. It's true that almost all cars being bought are second hand, but they are a lot more expensive than you would imagine. She recently bought a very used Rav4 for 10k Euro. Not saying that someone will pay the 15000 Euro for this truck, but it isn't dirt cheap to purchase a car in Africa(I thought the same thing before).

It can carry 15 passengers or 1800 Kg cargo and is extremely durable and cheap to run and repair, therefore is incredibly cheap on a cost per unit basis. Also low initial investment for entrepreneurs anyway who want to offer mini-bus or transport services

> is extremely durable

What makes you confident to say this about a vehicle that was just released in it's first iteration and has yet to stand the test of time?

It uses parts from vehicles that were on the market for decades now, so their reliability is well known. The Ford Transit engine is not going to get less reliable because they put it in a different frame.

TFA also mentions it did better than average in a durability test.

It would seem much more expensive than a motorbike which will already have an established ecosystem.

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