What are the minimum requirements companies consider when designing a new car before they can consider "wants" or nice to have features.?

Source: http://autoweek.com

Car companies consider a couple of things when designing a new car, such a needs and wants. They must install all the necessities first. According to the Illinois DMV website, there is a large list of features required to be street legal. However, there are even more regulations on producing new cars. There is a couple of categories of required features, such as function and safety.

A few necessities that car companies are required to install are: bumpers, engine,  etc. All of these items take up space and weight. The more features you add, the more its going to weigh, the more power it’s going to use, and the less room you’ll have. A car can only weigh so much before a 4-cylinder engine can’t handle it and is due for an upgrade to a 6-cylinder.

There are also necessities involving safety, such as: seat belts, airbags, brakes, etc. These items take up a lot of space, but not so much weight. Many of the necessities require a lot of electrical work. Brakes require several electrical line and hydraulic hose lines which also take up space. Also, safety features often are quite pricey. This means that before adding wants, you need to budget the price of the necessities.

Future Research Question: How do car companies develop new features?