Re: Does German Cars cost more in Germany?

[PlyBoyDoct@aol.com]

Sorry for the WOB, but I thought this was real interesting, and diffinally a 
eye opener for me.(Not to mention, I lost 10 bucks..hehehe)

Jason C
89 200t10v
Redmond WA

In a message dated 5/24/99 11:54:45 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
h93young@creighton.edu writes:

> >One word: TAXES.
>  
>  Sometimes -- and usually -- it's more than taxes. Just as average Joe/Jane
>  would not pay $70,000 for Audi (A8) or $30,000 or Subaru (SVX), the car
>  models have to be price competitive to survive in the U.S. In the U.S.,
>  it's not the real value of the car that sets the price; rather, it's the
>  image associated with the car brand. Would I pay $100,000 for Mercedes?
>  Heck, no -- it doesn't worth that much. For majority of 'Mericans,
>  however, the image alone justifies that silly high cost.
>  
>  About two years ago, I went through Asia. Did you notice the prices in
>  those countries? The A8 is priced (retail) at around US$160,000!! That's
>  more than twice the price of my house I lived few years ago! A Mercedes S
>  with small V6 goes into the $200,000 range.
>  
>  But one thing is for sure -- we in the U.S. are enjoying the cheapest
>  priced cars and gasoline in the world. When I mean cars, I mean domestics
>  and imports. There was some rumor back that every A8 sold in the U.S. will
>  *COST* Audi -- and Audi is putting up with it because A8 is the "image
>  car" for Audi. You cannot get A8 for $75,000 anywhere in the world except
>  in the U.S. As most foreigners say, "That's a steal!"
>  
>  Ever notice we don't get interesting cars that 98% of U.S. population
>  never heard of? The problem is to sell those cars, the cars must be
>  recognized and have "image values" to them or else they won't sell at
>  their proper values. Many magazines still claims A8 to be over-priced --
>  when aluminium construction of A8 is valued more than equivalent MB S or
>  BMW 7 models (and usually sold as so).
>  
>  It's very evident from how we compare cars -- we don't compare the cars
>  due to their own merit like rest of the world, but we compare them with
>  "similar prices." Rest of the world would compare Audi A4, MB C, and BMW 3
>  together. Would that happen in the U.S.? Nay. MB C is priced beyond BMW 3,
>  which in turn is priced beyond Audi A4. As far as most Americans are
>  concerned, A4 belongs to the same league as up-brand Honda (Accura) and
>  Toyota (Lexus) and not the traditional foes.
>  
>  (In the rest of the world, the Audi A4/MB C/BMW 3 are all priced similar
>  to each other. Yet, A4 usually out-sells 'em, and with better residual
>  values, etc.)
>  
>  In fact, that's the very reason why A4 is winning such praises. This is a
>  two-edged sword... If you compare a MB C to average Hondas and Toyotas, of
>  course MB will win (assume we don't look at the price). When most of rest
>  of world find A4 is above C or 3, of course it'll be better than the
>  average Joe/Jane car. But if Amercians do make A4 go against C or 3, the
>  A4 will fail -- not because it's not technically incompetent, but because
>  C and 3 had more "image" associated with them than the A4.
>  
>  (And that's why foreigners see Amercans as "weird" and "stupid.")