Staggering price

[Packard]

The company I used to work for made body molding mounting clips for the automotive industry.

While the item was in production, the part cost was in pennies.  Many were $0.03 to $0.10 each.

However, after production runs were done, costs skyrocketed. 

So during production (of the vehicle) we would run 250,000 + per run.  And we paid for the material at say 0.40 per pound (which would yield about 90 pieces per pound.

Later on, for repair part orders, we had to order $500.00 minimum on material even though we only need 30 pounds of material which would have cost us $12.00 before.

Heat treating minimum was also $500.00 minimum which used to cost us $0.30 per pound ($9.00 total).

Plating was about the same as heat treating, with a minimum of $250.00 lot charge.

And the customer would order 3 or 4 years worth of parts, tying up both warehouse space and money—both of which have a cost. 

So a production part that had a $0.03 cost originally, might have a cost that $0.60 or $0.75 each for repair orders.

So that very pricy part may not be of better quality as a similar and much cheaper part.  It is just more expensive to make in small quantities. 

So that very pricy belt might have setups and minimum lots for a variety of processes and that would drive up the cost.  It may not be any better in quality than a $24.00 belt that is similar in size but will not fit. 

 

[Crazyraceguy]

My van’s going into the shop Thursday for a new cambelt. The belt costs £22 according to Ford’s EKAT parts schematic price listing. But thanks to genius Ford design, the mechanic will have to take off practically the entire front end of the van to access the belt housing - and then put it all back on again once he’s spent 30 minutes swapping out the belt.

So £1350 UK - $1750 US.

Sadly, that's a Ford problem, not a parts price thing. If you were willing to do it yourself, you wouldn't have much more in it than the gaskets required. Less than $100, but add in the cost of your time.
Most of us are just better off paying it and spending our time working at what we do.

This would have been the same case, if the parts were cheap and the labor was the cost.

Ford has had a reputation for that as long as I can remember. This goes back to the days of the overhead cam four cylinder engines in Pintos (1970s) The taper of the cam bearings was from front to back, meaning you could not remove the cam from the head, while it was still in the car. Removal of the head complicates this exponentially, for no good reason. 
I know that a lot of the things that seem crazy to mechanics are actually done because it is easier during the assembly of the entire car, and they prioritize that time. They really don't care about the repair time later, because most of the vehicles will never see that issue (at least during the ownership time of the first buyer) but that saved assembly time applies to every one of them.
However, that cam story can't possibly be in this category. The engines are assembled in another location and just "plugged into" the chassis going down the line.
Most Ford Deisel truck require removal of the entire cab to remove the engine. They are not the only ones though. Chevrolet did the same with the latest generation of Corvettes. The entire engine/transmission/sub-frame cradle to get to get to pretty much any of it. (Clutch, etc) It takes over 8 hours, just to get it dropped out the bottom of the car, before any service can take place. Then 8 more to put it all back.

As far as the original topic, I just don't by the small batches theory (on this one) Sure, that happens, but a part like that is a wear item on a machine that is currently available. There is no reason for small batch pricing on something like that. Certainly, this is something they buy from some other manufacturer, at a set price (contracted) There is no way that they are just adding a simple (reasonable) margin to the price they pay.
Just like the part with the measuring wire. That thing has a much lower price, for those who are "allowed" to buy them. When it is finally sold to the end-user, it jumps up 5x?

 

[Steve1]

A standard timing belt that fits you could possibly find. 
If the tooth had a rounded profile, there are several possibilities, but that looks like a trapezoidal tooth so probably AT10 (10mm pitch).
Possibly they used a standard belt length, but knowing how Germans think, it is likely a non standard number of teeth.  Maybe enough tension adjustment to make a standard belt length work.
But the killer is the gripping texture on the surface of the belt.  Certainly a custom product and not going to be found anywhere off the shelf.