What's an ego purchase?

I'm sure that somewhere at one time all the automakers have tried to figure out and calculate what percentages of there sales are strictly done on appeal and ego and what percentage of their sales are done out of necessity. From my perspective almost 90 percent of Car sales

are really done out of ego or desire than they are ever are done out of need, after all, a twenty thousand dollar Honda Accord will perform

90 percent of the capability that a BMW 745i can do, what the Accord can't do is appeal to the ego of somebody with the means to have the BMW.

This argument could probably apply to the majority of products for sale. Automakers go to great lengths to instill desire in an individual that can afford a high end luxury car, or a low end economy car.

Car Builders sold millions of large and gas thirsty SUV's by creating the image and desire in people that they could go anywhere, on road, or off, drive thru raging snow storms in total safety and comfort.

In the real world, a good car with a low center of gravity and good road manners is a much safer bet than a heavy and bulky SUV, but image is everything and logic rarely applies in car sales, and with in a short time, what was once a market strictly for businesses exploded into a lucrative market with high sales margins.

But thanks to high fuel prices those days are over, car-truck hybrids such as the Volvo X70 and Nissan Murrano are gaining in popularity.

Minivans, that at one point fell out of favor  with soccer moms are making a comeback thanks to  sportier designs like the Honda Odyssey and Nissan Quest, combine this with safe and somewhat sporty handling, the argument can be made that Minivans are worth owning again.

The world today seems to resemble the oil shocked seventies, but  car companies  have such a great collection of emerging technologies that help with much needed fuel efficiencies, It gives me confidence that even more exciting times are down the road.

The ego will still rule when it comes to car sales, but thanks to unstable and rising fuel prices, practicality and common sense seem to be what's considered desirable these days.

 

J.

Lexus to launch new LS 460 in October

Autoweek Has a quick look at the new Lexus 460 that will be arriving in dealerships this October, the car looks to be a home run, it will combine the typical Lexus strengths of superb attention to detail and a much more aggressive(for Lexus) styling.

My initial impression  is that the car will be a home run,only Lexus can introduce so much technical sophistication and refinement, and combine it with what will be most certainly be long term static quality and reliability.

 

Once again  Mercedes Benz, BMW, Cadillac and the rest of the luxury

car makers have a good reason to be nervous.

 

J.

Ford may Sell Jaguar

LONDON -- British construction machinery group JCB said today that it was interested in buying carmaker Jaguar from U.S. owner Ford Motor Co.

A JCB spokeswoman confirmed a report in the Financial Times newspaper which said JCB Chairman Anthony Bamford would only want to buy Jaguar if Ford was prepared to split the loss-making carmaker from Land Rover.

While It seems strange to me that a construction Machine company would like to make a bid for Jaguar, maybe they would have better luck than Ford in trying to make Jaguar profitable. Where the synergies are in joining these two companies together remain to be seen. Jaguars financial woes stem from competing in a crowded luxury market with very intense competion.Though Jaguar has released some well executed cars such as the redesigned XJ, the buying public seems to be voting with it's wallet in favor of BMW,Mercedes and Lexus to name a few.

I think Jaguar is a great company with a long History that makes very beautiful cars, unfortunately these days the public has a short memory and if you fall back and fade from the public mind because of a lackluster product, there always your competion waiting to step in and fill the void where you left off.

Trying to get back favorable public mindshare is much harder than maintaining it.

J.

Can Lincoln make it back.

With Lincoln's sales seemingly reflecting the overall image and health of the Ford motor company these days, it is time for upper management to implement and execute on a plan that will return Lincoln back to prominence. This will require a complete rethinking of what this luxury brand is ,and what it has the possibility of becoming more than what it used to be.

There are great examples everywhere of how to do it right, and I will post again on this subject in more detail.

J.

Ford to drop CVT?

After offering a Cvt Transmission as an option in it's 500 and Mercury Montego family haulers, Ford will eventually replace the transmission with a new 6 speed automatic.

While this may seem like progress, it seems a mystery why they would decide to stop offering a technology that seems to have come into its own.

Cvt's or constantly variable transmissions have languished for years being offered only in small and very austere little economy cars.

It seems like bad timing for this, as the benefits of such a technology seems to be coming front and center, Nissan now has this technology available in it's maxima near luxury sedan, and will also offer it in the upcoming 2007 Altima, and has offered it in the Nissan Murano as well. I certainly hope that there will be a major benefit to this move on their part.

 

J.