Originally Posted by dwendt44
Of course, the tens of thousands of filters that Ford or GM or Chrysler buy for
their engine assembly plants could have a 'cost' factor involved as well as
break-in or assembly considerations.
My 2¢
I think we have a winner! It has to do with supplier volume pricing. All the filter has to do is meet spec. The consumer aftermarket is a different arena than the factory supplier market. The volume, distribution, and marketing are all different. The savings to the company can be in the millions. For example, Wix might have a more competitive way to ship bulk to a factory than Purolator. Purolator may have a better deal on store/dealership distribution to the consumer market, and may have competitive advantages in packaging and marketing. As long as both filters meet the car maker's spec, one supplier may be more competitive than the other in a specific arena. Each arena has different requirements, even if the job of the product is the same.
It doesn't take much savings per filter to add up when you are turning out millions of vehicles per year, or in the case of a particular model, hundreds of thousands. If Ford makes 1,000,000 3.5 Ecoboosts that use the same filter, and 50 cents can be saved per oil filter, that's an easy half million dollars. Why wouldn't a company leverage this kind of specialization to capitalize on significant savings?