Quote:
Originally Posted by Z4inAZ
That is part of the frustration I think...
We are used to BMW being an affordable premium brand that is very luxurious. Leather is standard on BMWs over here, on many cars a lot of features are standard. This is what we got used to, and this is how BMW established themselves in the US - an affordable premium sport/luxury brand.
The reason so many Americans are getting upset over their adding of these new models is it is altering in a very significant way their brand image in the US. I say it a lot but BMWs used to have this feeling of exclusivity associated with them... it was perceived exclusivity more than anything, but it felt special getting into one. They were the kind of car that people aspire to own.
The problem is now they are reaching into every little market... there is no more exclusivity because they have a model that appeals to everyone and their brother. They are no longer dedicated sports driver's cars with a luxury feel. Instead of making customers come to them, they went to the customer, and long-term I think this trying to appeal to everyone WILL hurt them, at least in the US. These cars have a sort of status symbol in the US, I think most people who would buy a $100,000 7 series would change their mind if BMW is selling a minivan alongside it in a showroom... then all these potential buyers migrate to Mercedes or Audi who are maintaining their luxury name.
Just seems to me BMW is sacrificing high-end sales of quality cars in exchange for low-end sales of quantity of cars. It seems to me this will more likely than not grow the business short term but hurt it long term
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Well if that's your perspective than I can kind of understand, but again the view over here is different... the fact that a £120,000 Audi R8 Spider, may be sat next to a £12,700 Audi A1 doesn't seem to but buyers off over here, same with the Mercedes A class, starting at £16,500 being sold alongside the SLS for £170,000.. Bimmers over here start at about £18,000, so they still have the highest entry level price, and the most expensive car would be an M6GC or 760Li at around £100,000.
I guess the perception of Luxury is not something we worry so much about, more the quality of the product, maybe Americans should worry less about how they appear, and more about what they are.
In this respect, I do worry for BMW, sustaining quality across such a rapidly expanding range of models will be difficult, and if quality starts to suffer, then I think they'll start to loose their reputation, that's the danger to me. But I think BMW are taking it seriously, the Project i thing has already had a big impact on the next range of vehicles that are already being spied (G generation 5's and 7s), the next M3/M4 they've taken a brave step to stop adding power and start doing things in a more efficient manner (lighter, more torque etc.)