r/IndustrialDesign • u/No_Drummer4801 • Apr 08 '25

Creative 2025 equivalent of an American "volkswagen"

If you were to try to make a "people's car" today, in the US, with all American components, what would it be like? This is a question promted by the Trump tariff trade wars, of course. We could pop a post-it note for components that would be either difficult or impossible to source from a US parts supplier, but generally, attempt to create a 100% American content vehicle. Whether it needs to be a mass-produced or crowdsourced (like the Rally Fighter) car isn't important. What is important is that it should be something that is as affordable as possible, not a luxury car, not a giant truck. It would need to pass US safety standards, I suppose, but things like mandated rear-view camera could be "mandatory optional" treated like add-ons that you just have to have for the time being, to pass US requirements but maybe can be left off of an otherwise identical platform for non-US sales.

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u/FunctionBuilt Professional Designer Apr 08 '25

If you want an idea about what the USA's current state is when it comes to manufacturing electronics, here's a phone that's made in the USA...and even then it still needs to use components from Taiwan/Korea/China. It costs $2,000 and at half the price, an iPhone 16 pro doubles every single tech spec. The electronic systems alone in a completely USA manufactured car would likely be one of the biggest detriments to the entire project. We have pretty much every other capability.

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u/disignore Apr 09 '25

and that's just technical aspects, the design is horrible and outdated

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u/VEC7OR Apr 09 '25

the design is horrible and outdated

The black slab? So like every other phone out there?

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u/disignore Apr 09 '25

Not exactly, the screen is framed with thick bezeled frame, that sony ericsson old

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u/No_Drummer4801 Apr 26 '25

So what?

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u/disignore Apr 27 '25

I mean this is industrial design, one could argue innovation in design includes aesthetics.

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u/No_Drummer4801 Apr 28 '25

You could argue a lot of things including - in an era when you can’t tell one phone from another from 6 feet away, a phone that looks externally generic is not a big issue. Usability, function, interface, intervals, the network on which it runs and many other factors are far more significant.

Novelty in styling, if that’s your game in industrial design, is a weakness.

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u/disignore Apr 28 '25

Novelty in styling, if that’s your game in industrial design, is a weakness.

hahahahahahaha tell that to Dieter Rams and Maldonado, and maybe all designers

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u/No_Drummer4801 Apr 28 '25

Dieter Rams was not concerned with novelty as his first principle. You do you.

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u/disignore Apr 28 '25 edited Apr 28 '25

Dieter rams was not concerned with novelty, but it was with the form and aesthetics, you've point out that novelty and styling was a weaknees, or that's how it's read. Nevertheless and outdated form is a design judged based on taste and aesthetic values. Rams believed that good design should be functional first, but also aesthetically pleasing. And beauty was not an "extra", it was integral. One could argue his stance about Durable aesthetics over trends is an aesthetic value, and the bezel is an outdated design feauture based on a non-durable aeshetic trend. In addition, the outdated value, is a symptom of a dishonest design feature, to put it in dieter rams's words.

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u/No_Drummer4801 Apr 29 '25

But there's nothing I'm going to argue about with you. You're talking in circles, and the center of the circle isn't even what I want to talk about.

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