Quote:
Originally Posted by GrussGott
At least here in the states I'm guessing BMW has never green-lit a 911 competitor because that income bracket doesn't see BMW as its brand. Most rich guys I talk to don't see an M car as rich guy's car ... for their kid or wife, yes, but not for them. It's a market segmentation thing.
Look at the SL63 - MB can sell those at $150+ and the SL65 at $180+ so how about BMW? They have to discount M5s and M6s. Why? Actual rich people don't buy them.
Thus the irony of lots of M-badges is that it appeals to people who aren't rich - market segment fail.
So it makes sense that Mercedes-AMG would build a GT and BMW wouldn't ... BMW has a small window / opportunity to change this perception, however, with electric cars and the "i" brand. The newly rich younger demo may see an i8 like a rich guy sees a SL63. Audi was able to break the segmentation barrier with the R8 - they haven't been able to repeat that, but they did it. The i8 is looking similar.
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I guess it depends on how you define "rich". But I disagree with general the sentiment in your post. An M car is a drivers car. Doesn't matter how rich you are. Maybe you daily drive it. Maybe you track it. Maybe you just have one as a garage queen. It will always be appealing. The M cars speak a universal language. These emotions transcend social stratas.
And you know I'm not just blindly defending M cars, since I'm not a huge fan in the first place. Wait, does that qualify me as rich? Woah. I think I need to go lay down.