Question: Why are the turn signals (direction indicators) on a Volkswagen always left of the steering wheel?
Answer: Because it keeps their manufacturing costs down.

Welcome to Costs Matter, a series that asks different questions all of which have the same answer: to better manage costs. The costs are frequently economic though not always. The series focuses narrowly on the impact of costs. It does not claim these costs are the only reason things are as they are. To read more in the series, visit https://medium.com/galileo-onwards/costs/home.

Some context: In some countries, like India, Australia, and England, traffic moves on the left side of the road. In these countries, cars have their steering wheels and pedals on the right side of the vehicle. (Though, fortunately, the accelerator and brake pedals retain the same order in all countries.)

Let’s look at a few pictures. Below is an image of a right-handed-driving VW car for a country like India. Observe that the turn signal is on the same side as the gear box, away from the window.

Image taken from volkswagen.co.in (pdf) © the website. Usage: Fair Use.

Compare the above image with a left-hand-drive Volkswagen. Notice that the direction indicators are still on the left of the steering wheel, far away from the gear box.

Image taken from cars.usnews.com © the website. Usage: Fair Use.

As all car drivers know, having the turn signals on the side opposite the gearbox is more convenient when driving because one hand can manipulate the gears while the other indicates direction of turn. But in the VW, the turn signal indicator is always on the left of the steering wheel. Why is this?

Because the existing arrangement reduces VW’s manufacturing costs. Let’s look at a few more examples.

This same cost consideration is evident in other cars too. For instance, both Ford (American) and Citroën (French) have their direction indicators always on the left side. For an even more extreme example, meet the 2021 Citroën C5 Aircross.

Image taken from cardekho.com © the website. Usage: Fair Use.

The 2021 “Citroën C5 Aircross” chose cutting costs over driver comfort by making their gearbox harder to reach in India because moving it to the right was costly to manufacture (see image). Automobile reviewer Overdrive highlights this point in their YouTube review. The reviewer says, “the placement of the gear selector… [is] for the left hand drive version, they haven’t really optimized it for the right hand drive version”. Although he says “this is not a big deal really”, that’s not what this blog is about. Our emphasis here is on costs, not usability. In fact, our common thesis is that costs typically trump utility.

Car manufacturers like Honda and Toyota do the right thing for their Indian cars. (I presume they do the same in England.) Their cars’ direction indicators are consistently on the opposite side of the gear box.

Image taken from carbuzz.com © the website. Usage: fair use.

However, cost considerations are evident in their manufacturing too — though at a lower scale. Their steering wheel audio controls and cruise control buttons are the same worldwide (see image).

The natural question that follows is why do car manufacturers like Honda and Toyota do the right thing in India? The answer, will be another Costs Matter post.

Generated by author. License: public domain.