Quote:
Originally Posted by Lemans_Blue_M
Here are just a few of the reasons I was told by the United States BMW M division chief (Larry Koch):
*US historical pricing structure (limits the pricing options for a special edition model here)
*Emmisions compliance (can't pass emmission...can't be sold in the US)
*DOT safety regulations (can't meet the minimum automotive safety requirements...can't be sold in the US)
*Overall manufacturing costs (limited production cars cost a fortune to build per unit)
*Vehicle certification and crash testing costs $$$$$$
And that's just for starters... 
This is why GT3's cost 130k here in the USA. |
Gt3's are $112,000 here and 82,000 pounds in GB... at current exchange rates $112,000 x .6136 = 68,800 pounds. Everywhere else in the world pays alot more for cars then us.
Which is actually completely irrelevant because we are the biggest market... So they can sell more cars are less profit here.
The fact is BMW didn't/doesn't think we will buy a stripped out m3 (because we didn't when they offered a LTW e36 to us).
Good news is its likely BMW has seen the light due to the sales success of the gt3. If we have seen anything recently we know bmw is willing to pile onto trends which porsche has had success with (ie 500+hp SUV).
Because of the GT3, I would be very surprised if we saw another CSL and it didn't make its way to the US.