Aiming at the decision optimization problem of the civil mechanical product design scheme which needs to consider the customer demand of products function, but also consider cost constraints, the study is made on the concrete pump truck series performance-cost trade-offs and decision-making using cost as an independent variable(CAIV) method. The life-cycle costs and performance models are built by using principal component regression and analytical hierarchy process(AHP) methods respectively. Then the optimal solution is obtained with cost-effective ratio. The results show that the product life cycle cost targets can be controlled effectively by using the design program traded-off with CIAV.