&gt; manufacturers are trying really hard to make car-making as 
&gt; hard &amp; difficult &amp; expensive as possible.<p>I think you may be under-estimating the complexities market. In fact, the cheapest models in a give product are often the highest volume. So you have to deliver maximum <i>value</i> in each price segment.<p>It&#x27;s not solely about price: The last brand to compete primarily on low-price was Yugo. How&#x27;d that turn out?<p>Also, if marketing is so non-essential, why does Google make any money?  For that matter, how many non-free [choose your industry, including software] companies don&#x27;t use paid-for marketing?