In the past few years, we've all heard about the price of cars and trucks being impacted by the price of steel. We've also heard about the reduction in the numbers of trucks sold due to the downturn of the housing market. According to this article (sub. req'd), there is a new raw material affecting the price of vehicles: sawdust. It seems that the slow housing market means that fewer scraps of wood are being reduced down to dust, which is used in the manufacture of certain interior components, like steering wheels. Apparently, there are a few substitutes to sawdust in the farming industry, like cow manure. This fact raises an interesting question: would you rather pay more for your car or have the steering wheel made with cow manure? Or, how would the use of cow manure in the making of your next car affect that "new car smell" that we all know and love?
[Source: The Wall Street Journal via All Cars All The Time]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
B @ Mar 4th 2008 6:28PM
I, I, just dont know what to say to this post.
inv4zn @ Mar 4th 2008 6:30PM
Wtf? is all I could think of
Jrejre @ Mar 4th 2008 6:43PM
I hate manure.
AlexP @ Mar 4th 2008 7:00PM
I eat manure.
Big Bad Sedan @ Mar 4th 2008 6:43PM
Same here... I am not sure what to think because it like WTF and at the same time its like DUH!
cowboy bob @ Mar 4th 2008 7:08PM
This brings a whole new perspective to the old saying "Your car is a piece of sh*t".
macdoc @ Mar 4th 2008 7:29PM
Damn that will slow the production of Fords no Sawdust for the trans...LOL...
DA Murphy @ Mar 4th 2008 8:52PM
I'm no scientist or genius, but I'm willing to bet this problem would have been solved years ago if industrial hemp was legal.
Frank @ Mar 5th 2008 8:39AM
Industrial hemp? I can see it now. Your car will broken into not for the stereo, not for the Garmin GPS, but for the steering wheel so it can smoked by some pot head. :)
Adam @ Mar 4th 2008 9:17PM
Solution: ever car switches to momo, which uses composites :)
Brian @ Mar 4th 2008 9:27PM
It's just manure. Manure's not that bad. I don't even mind the word "manure” You know. It's “newer,” which is good, and a “ma” in front of it. MA-NURE. I mean when you consider the other choices, "manure” is actually pretty refreshing.
Car Designer @ Mar 5th 2008 1:04PM
nice Costanza reference... under the radar to most, but priceless...Pulp can move baby!!
Dustin @ Mar 4th 2008 10:35PM
Duuuuude..
Wildgoosechase @ Mar 5th 2008 12:43AM
B.S.
sw @ Mar 5th 2008 1:11AM
HA! Nowdays it almost seems that industries seem to be asking the magic 8 ball "How can we raise prices today?" and it gives some sort of a strange answer that the companies later release as fact.
Harrison @ Mar 5th 2008 1:30AM
We could switch to carbon-fiber... would undo some of that god-awful weight gain.
fsx @ Mar 5th 2008 4:47AM
The 21st century called: wooden houses in a country where hurricanes are a dime a dozen is stupid. That's the real problem.
Alex @ Mar 5th 2008 10:03AM
umm... a map called: huricanes do not hit the entire country.
dwain white @ Mar 5th 2008 5:55AM
I don't see what the fuss is all about. Let them build the steering wheels out of sh*t. Most of the cars on the road today are sh*t! Might as well list it on the window sticker.
Frank @ Mar 5th 2008 8:43AM
Ladies and gentlemen, I think it's time to face the stark truth of the matter: the world has reached Peak Sawdust. From here on out production of sawdust will only decline each year as old sources are used up and no new sources are disconvered. From here out we will be competing with the Chinese and the Indians for the ever decreasing supply of sawdust.
We must find an alternative or change or lifestyle. I vote for converting back to metal tillers like the original autos of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Peak Sawdust, it's the new reality.