AutoArt: Why is it Expensive and Valuable?

Chances are you have come across AutoArt diecast car brand especially if you are diecast enthusiastic or you are a collector. If you have, you may have realized the price is on the high end compared to other brands in the market. Many see Autoart as expensive and valuable.

One of the questions which must have invaded your mind is why are these cars are expensive and valuable? What do they have that other car brands don’t have? Are they worth it? All these, among other questions, ought to have crossed your mind.

AutoArt Models are very expensive and valuable because of their great attention to detail. Usually, you can see that their car models look exactly the same as the real ones. It can become so real that even the dashboard looks very accurate. Thus, their quality makes them valuable and expensive.

In this blog post, you’ll get answers to those entire questions and, most importantly, understand the reason AutoArt diecast cars are both expensive and valuable in a more detailed manner.

If it is your first time to learn about AutoArt cars, let us start from the basics, where we try to understand how the AutoArt cars were developed and by whom.

What is AutoArt?

AutoArt is a diecast car brand with its base in Hong Kong, China. Even though most cars are manufactured in China, they are sold through the AA collection Ltd. Cars line.

The AutoArt cars brand was founded in 1998, and the brand was a German company, but their model cars were being manufactured in China. Some of the diecast cars which were associated with AutoArt include Gateway, Gate, and UT Models.

AutoArt today is a prominent cars model company worldwide focusing on manufacturing diecast cars models, motorcycles, and slot racing cars. Also, the brand produced aircraft models and planning to start producing radio-controlled cars.  

The AutoArt diecast cars are usually on the 1:18 scale, and some are now worth approximately $100 to $1000.

Why is AutoArt so Expensive

I have mentioned the current retailing price of AutoArt diecast cars, and to be honest, the AutoArt cars are really expensive. Here, I have researched the reasons why I AutoArt is so expensive.

AutoArt models are so expensive mostly because of their high labor cost. Making AutoArt models require so much specialty because most of their models are extremely detailed. Furthermore, there is an imposed licensing fee on diecast cars which drives its price up.

Here are the explanations of each of the reasons why AutoArt is becoming more expensive.

1. High cost of labor

One of the reasons why AutoArt is so expensive is due to the high labor cost. Several people are required to manufacture AutoArt diecast cars ranging from the designer to the person doing the real working in production.

Every day the labor cost in the production of these model cars is increasing in value, which will make the company manufacturing these AutoArt cars increase car model prices to meet the labor costs. Additionally, the AutoArt diecast cars’ labor cost is high due to the cars are much detailed.

The reason is that great attention to detail requires expertise, and the labor cost for expertise is usually high.

Therefore leading to the labor cost being high, the car’s cost will also be high.

2. The licensing fees are high.

Another reason why AutoArt cars are expensive is due to the ever-increasing cost of the license.

Contrary to back in the 1990s, there was no much license fee imposed on Diecast cars. Those days the fee was imposed on symbolic only, but today, the fee is imposed on almost everything.

Due to the company manufacturing has to incur those licensing costs, they will be forced to raise their car value.

I think the reason for this license is most car manufacturers want the model of their car to be as realistic as possible, and AutoArt is actually keeping up to their standards.

3. The competition is high.

There are other leading diecast car brands offering almost similar cars. The company manufacturing AutoArt cars came up with a marketing strategy to price their cars above competitors’ prices.

Although the company may sell fewer cars than other companies, they will be making a huge profit compared to brands selling their model cars for a cheaper price.

4. High cost of production

Regardless of how many times the selling prices are raised, it is difficult to keep up with the ever-increasing production costs. When prices rise, the number of collectors who purchase the model falls, resulting in a drop in the number of cars sold.

This has a direct impact on the model makers’ investment plans, and it raises the cost of production even more.

Actually, this is leading to a shortage of sales and ever-increasing production costs, most diecast model companies, particularly the high-end model builders, are suffering greatly.

Are AutoArt Models Worth it?

AutoArt models are worth it and they are ideal diecast cars to collect. AutoArt is proud of the attention to detail of its models. When collectors hear AutoArt, it instantly means that their cars are worth collecting. That’s what separates them from their competitors.

That makes AutoArt Models extremely worth it.

Their extreme attention to detail can be seen even to the smallest level of detail. For example, you can even their accuracy in designing the dashboard in their model including speedometer and fuel gauge.

Not just that, minors details such as the spoilers, wheels, and many more are made with absolute accuracy.

More so, AutoArt models are well-detailed diecast cars ranging from stamped rivets to red tow hooks.

They are high-quality model cars to start collecting and add to your collection. The price is on the high end, but soon, they will be even more valuable.

What is AutoArt Made Of?

The AutoArt diecast cars are made up of injection-molded ABS composite parts. These parts have the right ones required to manufacture high-quality model cars. As a result, they were able to provide models that sales with real measurements and stylish car bodies

Injected ABS composite is even better than diecast zinc metal because it helps incorrect formulation of smoother body and sharper creases.

Additionally, the Injected ABS composite assist in the reproduction of clean vents, holes, and panels are much thinner.

As a result, there is the production of high-quality AutoArt cars featuring real measurements and stylish car bodies. The composite models of AUTOArt are not sealed but have a complete variety of working closed panels, including the doors for all models and motor hats for many topics.

Even by using the traditional zinc metal diecasting, they were able to make high-quality cars. Recently, there is a newer type of diecast which is better than zinc alloy diecasting. Those are resin diecasts. I’ve made an article resin diecasts if you’re interested: What is Resin Diecast and is it Worth Buying?

But the point here is that even with the ABS composite assist, traditional zinc diecast still has its limits.

There are challenges with Injected ABS composite.

Among the setback with this car made using ABS has thin-gauge steel, which is not rigid enough. If the care is compressed, there is flexing and deforming of the gauge.

When a model with opening doors is produced, the doors are loosened under flexing and not closed correctly once the body is marginally deformed.

The combination of a diecast interior is designed to sustain the body in all areas, which need consolidation to make the entire composite body rigid.

The principle behind a diecast metal body—or, indeed, many genuine cars that use internal components to provide the body rigidity—is that the entire composite body becomes stiff with metal inside.

The strengthened composite body doesn’t easily bend and never deforms, and the doors and caps always open in the same position and close.

In addition, when reproduced in composite material rather than diecast zinc, the final model’s door gaps are finer.

Modern supercars, which use an extremely stiff carbon-fiber tub to hold all of the lightweight exterior bodywork, inspire the idea of an interior framework.

After significant research and testing, AutoArt has determined that a composite body is superior in practically every way to making an economic model car body that meets their clients’ high expectations.

Sources

• Driving Line
• Invaluable
• Wikipedia