Quote:
Originally Posted by NYG
I feel like this is one of those "in a perfect world" posts that doesn't really apply to reality.
In a perfect world, we buy the best product available.
In reality:
1) Maserati still exists and people continue to buy those rolling pieces of trash
2) Apple is one of the biggest companies in the world even though they seldom had the best product on the market
3) No one wants to buy an American car even though a ZL1 1LE Camaro/Corvette walks all over anything BMW has to offer and the C8 only makes this worse for the future
I know this is a bit extreme but do you think Ferrari would still have the same religious following and buyer mass if they started putting their pony on a $30,000 hybrid?
The reality of the situation is that they are flooding the market with fake M cars, which to the majority of the public's eye is the same thing as an M car. This kills a little bit of that status/exclusivity that average joes get when they spend double the money on a real M car. Most people aren't automotive enthusiasts the way we are on here. Less money that goes to M cars, the shittier the product we get because there's a smaller market for them.
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I think the difference in our thought process is how we see the M brand and the BMW brand.
I don't think comparing Ferrari prestige to M brand prestige is apples to apples. Ferrari to BMW maybe, and BMW does what you say. They made $130,000 M cars, but they also make $35,000 family sedans.
I think for the general market, the M brand doesn't have the global prestige a lot of this forum think it does. Most of my non car friends don't know what an M is. (Though you're probably right that if they saw an M240i next to an M6 they would probably assume a similar pedigree)
I do see your point about the market size, but then I have to somewhat contradict myself and say that the base of consumers that already is shopping BMW is (just based on the fact that BMW is doing it) can't (or doesn't want to) afford an M car, but CAN afford this 'cool' M Package. So it's Selling the same amount of cars, but increasing revenue.
Even with BMW pandering to people who want the cool M look without the M price, I'm still not sure that someone shopping for an M3 is going to pass on the car because the M340i exists. Especially with how down their nose a lot of the M ownership acts even towards the general BMW population. The cars are still extra special because they want them to be.