[Biturbos4] BMW becoming the 'ultimate poser machine'

[Quincy Chiang]

This is very disappointing indeed.  However think about what BMW stands for to the majority of North American public, it stands for status symbol, wealth and good looks (well the 3 still is, questionable for the new 5, 7 and Z4...), nothing more, nothing less.  They proclaim themselves as the "ultimate driving machine", but who really cares about the driving these days?  And that's exactly what they've realized, why else would they make the X5 and now the X3, a utterly useless POS.  We enthusiasts make up a very small percentage of their sales, and I'm afraid they care less and less about us, they'll make whatever sells.

Nonetheless, I think this direction will catch up to them one day, when car sales start to slide (which is starting to happen now), it's the enthusiasts and brand loyalists that will continue to buy their cars.

I think Audi is slowly heading towards that direction as well, I just hope they don't forget who they are like BMW has.

Quincy - rant of the day...

 

----- Original Message -----
From: Keman <keman at interwolf.net>
Date: Thursday, February 26, 2004 4:10 pm
Subject: Re: [Biturbos4] BMW becoming the 'ultimate poser machine'

> That is surprising ... I would think there would be at least one 
> manualtrans car. For exactly that 5% of buyers who won't drive an 
> automatic, per
> their own statistics.
> 
> Find some salesguy who wants 5% more of all their sales of 330i's 
> to get one
> onto the showroom floor.
> 
> - Keman
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Bill Coleman" <billc928 at earthlink.net>
> To: <biturbos4 at www.audifans.com>
> Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2004 10:18 AM
> Subject: [Biturbos4] BMW becoming the 'ultimate poser machine'
> 
> 
> > A friend of a friend wanted to test drive a 330i only to 
> discover every
> car
> > on the lot was an automatic!  The salesman told him that 95% of 
> what they
> > sell are automatics, so the only way to get a manual 
> transmission was to
> > special order it.  No slam on automatics, but for me the 
> 'ultimate driving
> > machine' would be a manual.  Has BMW crossed the line from sport 
> sedan to
> > luxury sedan?  Or is this just a local (nothern Detroit suburbs)
> phenomenon?
> >
> > Bill
> > 00 S4 6sp
> > 01 A4 Avant 1.8tq sport 5sp
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Biturbos4 mailing list
> > Biturbos4 at www.audifans.com
> > http://www.audifans.com/mailman/listinfo/biturbos4
> 
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