[MSS]

It's never as simple as that. Mark up is normally a ratio of the sale price to buy price. But a car manufacturer has to hold and manage inventory for at least 10 years after the car ceases production. This carries a huge cost.

The fact most car makers make make losses or only marginal profits demonstrates that their net profits are very low or negative!

There is only really one way to achieve low end prices for parts - to produce tat and do so only for the period that large volume sales are available. This would be unsustainable for a car manufacturer but is the business model of most producers of copied parts sold at low prices.

Most parts sold for our cars these days fall into the tat category in my view. This is why they do not last. Also, people are not paying main dealer prices.

I can remember horror stories of extortionate dealer charges for Rover 75 repairs and service when they were nearly new. Comparing costs of owning/maintaining a 3 year old Porche and a 20 year old 75 is just not a valid comparison or relevant. Comparison with a 20 year old Omega would be valid. I do make such comparisons as I own both and the Omega has worked out to be cheaper overall because it is still possible to buy most OEM parts from Vauxhall or the likes of Lemforder.