I Think This One Is Just Right? Are Automakers Offering Buyers Too Many Choices?

Going out there and securing the new vehicle you always wanted is not an easy process, not even if you have a bank account the size of Everest and just want to pick another Porsche for that 35th spot in your huge car garage.

That’s because when it comes to automobiles, Porsche and most of its luxury or mass-market rivals offer too much options to choose from. It’s the same conundrum that you encounter in a big empty parking lot – you might spend more time parking then you would if there were just two empty spaces. Let’s take the high-end luxury offerings for example. Porsche offers a plethora of 22 variants for its core 911 model – actually more than paint options. And BMW or Audi crossovers differ in inches from their related – but more traditional – station wagon counterparts as carmakers keep inventing new niches to drive demand forward. When it comes to German automakers – they alone stretched their lineups by around 25% over the recent years.

 

Read Article

atc98092 - 11/14/2014 7:57:53 PM

+1 Boost

For many brands, you can't get enough options, or they're bundled with options you don't want. VW has a significant lack of options, while Lexus puts everything in packages.

MDarringer - 11/14/2014 8:09:09 PM

-1 Boost

Manufacturers would be more profitable by NOT offering options. Offer 3 trim levels--no variations--and profits would increase.

Manufacturers play that game because it's lucrative.

At our Ford store, we've had people custom order a Fusion S--because it has a killer price--and then add options that wind up making it more expensive than a Fusion SE with the same/similar options.

VW is EVIL. VW has option packages that rapidly inflate the price.

skytop - 11/15/2014 8:01:05 AM

0 Boost

The parts manufacturers are in heaven now.

GM gets around the many car variants by building most all of them (like Cadillacs) on a Chevrolet and rebadging them.

Like obama's administration says, 'Stupid Americans are easy to fool.' (Gruber)

DTMFan - 11/15/2014 12:56:34 PM

+2 Boost

Choice is only a bad thing if you have a tiny IQ.

PUGPROUD - 11/15/2014 2:30:03 PM

0 Boost

Premium manufacturers are entering every segment and niche to keep their over capacity factories and union employed workers turning out ever more vehicles. The net effect is a diminishment of exclusivity,
prestige and declining margins. Pushing product out with low lease rates will work for a while but not forever. Also no amount of top end expansion will make up for the decline in brand image. Standing in line at a dealership waiting for service on your high end vehicle behind some kid in baggy pants with his hat turned sideways in front of you with a low cost lease gets old pretty fast for those with dough. When the day of reckoning comes (once Chinese demand softens if not a lot sooner) there will be much blood spilled in the industry and more brands will disappear.

MDarringer - 11/15/2014 2:39:27 PM

0 Boost

Well said.

MrEE - 11/15/2014 5:22:36 PM

+1 Boost

BMW just needs to fill out the Z and i series, then they will have bases covered.