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      11-09-2009, 02:10 PM   #59
ChrisV
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Quote:
Originally Posted by UltimateBMW View Post
After reading through this thread, and seeing it mentioned that the new taurus is cheaper but still comparable, even if in their own mind, to other high end luxury cars. And after hearing all the CTS-V vs. M5 hype with it being near $30k less money is anyone else just fed up that Americans always make the cheaper underdog car? Why didn't GM put the extra $30k (or at least $25k to be competitive) into the car and blow the M5's socks off?

Why isn't the new Taurus a true competitor to these other luxury brands? Whats with all the exceptions and for-instances in their car line ups.

Mind you this is just some random thoughts that ran through my head reading previous posts. So they are most likely wrong/flawed/not fully thought out. I'm just getting tired of American brands using the 'For substantially less money' caveat. Make a true competitor please, improve your quality across the board, and stop being the eco-boxes you've been for the last decade GM/Ford.

(Although, I think Ford is certainly better off than GM atm.)
Some answers for you:

1) How big is the market for expensive cars worldwide vs cheaper cars? Where do large companies make their bread and butter?

That's right. NOT expensive cars.

2) when every car is an expensive car, how many people will buy a new one? Are you so jaded that you think everyone makes $100k a year?

3) Cars in America are a way of life for every economic level, and a lot of American thought is anti-royalty and anti-classism, especially in the 3000 mile wide section in the middle of the country, vs the coastal cities. Europe has always treated the automobile as a luxury item. With nations sometimes as small as states in the US, cities that are close together and have been populated for a thousand years+, multi-generational households, and few people actually NEEDING cars to effect a living, as well as centuries of fuedal society to impose a class system (that while it may no longer be official, still resonates in the various cultures), car manufacturers are more able to aim for the luxury market and charge more for their cars.

4)OTOH, how many entry level European cars do we see in the US? BMW wont' even sell it's base level cars here with cloth seats and tiny diesel engines. We dont' se basicl European cars like Pugeots and Cirtroens, Seats and Skodas. Why? becasue it's not cost effective to import them to the US as the price would rise so much as to make them uncompetetive with the already more costly luxury cars due to lack of content/refinement, and uncompetetive with the identically equipped and quality cheap Domestic cars due to that price difference.

How many Skodas are as nice inside as an Audi? They are both from the same company, but you don't expect the Skoda Octavia to be as nice as an A4. Why? Because they aren't priced the same and are for people who don't want to spend on the A4.


So, the US gets only the higher content, and higher priced cars from Europe that don't sell very many units in comparison. The best way to compete with those cars is to do it on value, not try to go after a small market with identical level cars. It's better to go after the larger market that consists of people that won't/can't spend the money.

Cars like the Taurus and the new Malibu are as nice and priced about the same as anything in their class from Japan, too (and Japanese companies, incedentally, did the same thing: build in content for the dollar: think Lexus LS400 vs Mercedes as a prime example).

Again, the basic idea is that spending money for the sake of spending money is not something we, as a whole, think is valuable (and why we give the bling bling crowd such a bad time). If you can get the same for less, why is that a bad thing? Leave the "get the same for more" to the niche makers.
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