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That was a misleading figure - it is the list price which nobody ever pays for a Ford and secondly it is the most expensive trim level.
If you really wanted a 125 PS Titanium X a decent broker would sell you one for closer to £14k.
Have BMW devalued their brand?
- Thread starter Gepetto
- Start date
That was a misleading figure - it is the list price which nobody ever pays for a Ford and secondly it is the most expensive trim level.
If you really wanted a 125 PS Titanium X a decent broker would sell you one for closer to £14k.
Then They've added value to the brand.
Ask the shareholders
http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=BMW.DE#symbol=BMW.DE;range=5y
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I am sure they have been "developing" one but the fact is until they release one there simply isn't one!
I think that sums it up for me really.
The sheer size of the BMW (and Audi) ranges tends to suggest high volume and, only the very top of those ranges are high end.
As they look almost identical to the base spec, they are almost certainly devalued, although the man in the street who does not know the difference between a 520D and an M5 may disagree.
[TW]Fox;25871034 said:
Are the poverty spec BMW's of today not far more accessible to would be fiesta drivers than 20 years ago? Everyone's got finance, plus the low end BMW's are more affordable meaning everyone can have a car with a BMW badge on it. I don't think this was the case 20 years ago.
Without digging up the old prices, I'd imagine there was quite a large difference in price between say an e21 316 and a Mk1 Fiesta 950 Popular, the two respective bottom of the range models at the time, much as there no doubt still is quite a gap between today's bottom of the range models.
Finance probably has a fair bit to do with it,yes.
Although it's interesting the recent 3 series iirc outsells the Mondeo, it never did that when it's predecessor(e21,e30) completed with the Cortina and Sierra....
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I would have regarded the Mondeo as a competitor to the 5 Series, as opposed to the 3?
Yes, me too tbh, but the 3 outselling the Mondeo is the statement I keep reading in various motoring publications.
Although in fairness, the five is hardly a competitor to a Mondeo, it's in a different league.
The three series mondeo thing is a bit missleading for me as I'm sure that this swing is the middle management company car market where both cost about the same and badge snobbery is so rife as to be almost embaressing. The number of debadged povity spec 1 and 3 series in our car park is funny but not as funny as knowing how far some poeple have extended themselves beyond the company car allowance for their grade just so they can have a 'premium' badge.
I don't think BMW have really de-valued, I think it just looks that way because of the way other manufacturers have improved over the past decade, I.E Audi raising their game significantly, Jaguar raising their game, Volvo starting to make cars that don't just refuse to die but that you don't want to die, Rover disappearing (bad brands make good ones look even better by comparison), all the Korean manufacturers entering the arena, Lexus actually designing a car (other than the LS400) instead of just re-badging Toyotas, etc.
I've always found the subjectivity of brand prestige between BMW, Audi and Mercedes interesting.
Lets face it, at the moment they're all the same, really. It's just some people have an irrational perception that one is much more luxurious and up-market than the others. I personally find Audis incredibly bland, Mercedes were making the best looking cars but they've lost the plot now e.g. with the new SL, BMW seem far more consistent.
Lets face it, at the moment they're all the same, really. It's just some people have an irrational perception that one is much more luxurious and up-market than the others. I personally find Audis incredibly bland, Mercedes were making the best looking cars but they've lost the plot now e.g. with the new SL, BMW seem far more consistent.
I see Audi, BMW and Mercedes as more high quality brands, rather than 'prestige'
They obviously do their lower spec cars that are to widen the appeal a bit more, but generally if you have a decent spec'd version of one of the above, they will be at the top end of the quality compared to other manufacturers equivalents.
They obviously do their lower spec cars that are to widen the appeal a bit more, but generally if you have a decent spec'd version of one of the above, they will be at the top end of the quality compared to other manufacturers equivalents.
Very true. I have a friend who is a single mum and struggles on the money she earns. Yet rather than simply take an average ford or vw company car she puts quite a bit of extra money towards it each month to get a Mercedes instead. It's her choice of course but when money is tight then stretching to get a better badge doesn't make sense to me.
Yes, I know what you mean, I was just trying to differentiate between segments really. I suppose "Prestige" should really refer to Rolls/Bentley perhaps?
It seems to me it's inevitable in a capitalistic society that a brand which achieves significant growth built originally on strong values such as build quality, drivetrain (in the case of BMW) and prestige will inevitably sacrifice these in chase of further growth and profit, in a competitive market, cutting costs and therefore quality (and the brand identity) along the process.
So really the subjective devaluation of the brand is a case of competitors getting better but also BMW sacrificing quality through aggressive cost-cutting to maximise market capitalisation and profit.
So really the subjective devaluation of the brand is a case of competitors getting better but also BMW sacrificing quality through aggressive cost-cutting to maximise market capitalisation and profit.
So, has Jaguar taken over the segment of "High Quality/More Prestigious vehicles" and, logically, will Jaguar eventually have to sell small cars and increase their range dramatically to further their business?
If Jaguar wanted to compete with BMW then product diversification is one way of doing this. They've already done a damn good job of reinventing themselves in recent years, the old man image is long gone. But my point is, if the person controlling Jaguar decides he or she wants to pursue aggressive growth then this will in the long run be at the expense of the brand image.
It's human greed. If I owned the controlling stake in say Jaguar and was told that by introducing a hatchback aimed at the lower segment of the market, profits would increase by a substantial amount (more money in my pocket) I would likely support the motion even though it's going to hurt the brand prestige. Particularly if I wasn't the founder of the company and had no real emotional attachment to it.
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I see BMW as a good quality car manufacturer which concentrates on making a great platform (up to you whether you ruin it with a rubbish engine)- it's not a prestige poseur brand or ultra high end and hasn't been. Audi is a much more confused offer in my view.