Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesqf
Checked the MSRP on a Lotus lately? (Lotus, BTW, had the highest CAFE rating of any company that sells in the US last year?) Or Porsche, Ferrari, the two-seater BMW & Mercedes models? Or even the Corvette?
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That's a very different, and relatively small, market... None of those are daily-driver family-hauler grocery-getters (a very few very small families aside). They are intended specifically for one purpose, which is in many ways antithetical to our purposes here on this forum: GOING FAST.
When you talk about the bulk of auto sales in this country, the bigger cars are "perceived" as being worth more. For example, look at the Accord versus the Civic, the Fusion versus the Focus, the Camry versus the Corolla, and so on. If it costs the manufacturer the same amount to build each (say to within 10%, for a total SWAG) but the larger car sells for 30% more, there is more profit in each of the larger vehicles sold.
Luxury vehicles usually cost fractionally more to build than standard ones, but can sell for much, much more. (That's one of the reasons that luxury SUVs were so common; they cost <25% more to build than a regular truck-thing, and they retailed for double or more! Lots of profit!!)
What does this mean in context of this discussion? I'm not really sure...
-soD