v2.5.0.2 Issues with Retooling, Design

[Rashi]

So I have been playing a bit again recently, first time with the new production system.

It seems to me , I haven't verified, that it is now far easier to scale up production numbers , while reducing the number of chassis bases in use, which I'd do anyway. So the tradeoff doesn't seem balanced ? -> seems to easy to reach high production numbers per factory, especially early on.
The estimation (autoproduction) seems not to account for inventory , even huge stockpiles, at all .

It's not possible to retool to a new platform when there is local inventory.
It should be possible to retool to a new platform , even though there is inventory of finished cars at the local factory.

Designing Components:
It is no longer possible to redesign components that are still in development. This is very annoying.
It used to be very good to easily design variants of the same engine for example a gas and a diesel version.

[Eric.B]

So I have been playing a bit again recently, first time with the new production system.

It seems to me , I haven't verified, that it is now far easier to scale up production numbers , while reducing the number of chassis bases in use, which I'd do anyway. So the tradeoff doesn't seem balanced ? -> seems to easy to reach high production numbers per factory, especially early on.

The numbers are likely unbalanced. I have asked people to submit long play save games so I can tweak the numbers, but I haven't gotten much.

The balance comes from not being able to adjust production levels without paying time and costs penalties. You will quickly run out of capacity without proper planning.

The estimation (autoproduction) seems not to account for inventory , even huge stockpiles, at all .

The auto production system for the new factory system does not account for inventory. It uses running demand history and the estimation system to set production amounts within the limit. There will be steep penalties with future bounties if you keep starting and stopping production. So, it does not drop production to sell through inventory automatically. You should use the inventory for when you need to make changes to the maximum production values since this shuts down your factory lines.

It's not possible to retool to a new platform when there is local inventory.
It should be possible to retool to a new platform , even though there is inventory of finished cars at the local factory.

Not sure what you mean by this. This is currently possible. If you are retooling the factory, it doesn't touch or effect the vehicle inventory system.

Designing Components:
It is no longer possible to redesign components that are still in development. This is very annoying.
It used to be very good to easily design variants of the same engine for example a gas and a diesel version.

I'll add it to the bug list for v2.6.0.0

[Rashi]

Hmm I'll have to test the retooling again then.

 
The balance comes from not being able to adjust production levels without paying time and costs penalties. You will quickly run out of capacity without proper planning.

While that is true, I feel , that especially early game, it is now cheaper and faster to setup relatively high production numbers. While less flexible in production. The retooling cost and time is not too much of an issue in the early game. Certainly makes planning more important.
I'll provide a save when the current playthrough reaches the 1950s. 

Another inconvinience I noticed, similar to the parts redesign issue, when you view your vehicle list in the R&D Office , it is no longer possible to sort it by model type. (Coupe, Sports, Van, ..).

Also for some reason the View Vehicles List (View Parts List) and Modify Designs list don't sort the same way when sorting by name.

When modifying a vehicle to make a new generation , when you click on a vehicle in the view vehicles list, then click modify designs the correct vehicle isn't always pre selected in the "Modify Designs" List. I think this is the case when the correct selection would be on page 2 or higher in the "Modify Designs" List.