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The Value Proposition of Luxury Brands - READ ONLY

109 messages,  Last post on Oct 25, 2010 at 2:16 PM

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What is this discussion about? Car Values

Messages Page 11 of 11

#100 of 109 Re: Count the South Koreans out... [steve_] by fintail

Oct 24, 2010 (6:09 pm)

Replying to: steve_ (Oct 24, 2010 6:01 pm)
Well, if the person has never seen a Maybach before, or has no memorized knowledge of one, how are they to know?
 
There's more to it than brand, there's a design element to it too.

#101 of 109 Re: Count the South Koreans out... [steve_] by fintail

Oct 24, 2010 (6:10 pm)

Replying to: steve_ (Oct 24, 2010 10:59 am)
That it is, in the eye of the beholder especially. Is it the same as a S/7 etc? Or an E/5? Or what? Luxury cars are subjective, and are very categorical - maybe an endless amount of classes.

#102 of 109 Value Means Value by houdini1

Oct 24, 2010 (6:42 pm)

Well practically speaking, currently there are 3 mainline luxury autos in the U.S. The LS, the S, and the 7, with the 7 being a.w.o.l. for the last few years. That just leaves the LS and the S. Two very fine automobiles that take turns winning comparisons, but as far as VALUE goes I would have to give the nod to the LS.
 
The LS costs about $20 grand less than the S when new, but after 4 or 5 years they are worth about the same, or very close. To me that equates to better value. Just because I drive an LS doesn't mean I'm biased. I forgot the A8 and it is also a viable contender.
 
I have an open mind about the Equus and I hope it is a roaring success.

#103 of 109 Re: Count the South Koreans out... [steve_] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Oct 24, 2010 (8:46 pm)

Replying to: steve_ (Oct 24, 2010 6:01 pm)
But a Maybach shopper will know, and that's what counts.
 
I'm rooting for Hyundai, too, to make a splash. Competition improves the breed! Look what Lexus did for Mercedes after all.......
 
If I were appointed King of Hyundai, what I'd do is:
 
1. Ditch the Hyundai name. Call the new marque "Genesis" or similar
 
2. Put in an engine that's worthy of a world class luxury car. This means POWER to crush you back in your seat. Maybe even twin-turbos or a SC on the Genesis V8 would work, if Hyundai doesn't want to develop a new engine (very $$$ to do that).
 
3. Continue to coddle and seduce new customers as they've been trying to do, with valet services, free iPads, free loaners, even fitted luggage, champagne in the truck, personalized owners manuals, you name it---pour on the glitz.
 
4. If the car sells in reasonable numbers after 2 years, add 20% to the price and build a LWB version.
 
5. Do something with the styling.

#104 of 109 Re: Count the South Koreans out... [Mr_Shiftright] by lemko

Oct 25, 2010 (11:54 am)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Oct 24, 2010 8:46 pm)
Hyundai doesn't seem to be recognized as a luxury car by most of the public. I saw an Azera at lunch time and the owner pried off all the swoopy "H" badges and replaced them with aftermarket badges with some fussy filligree in them. It was as if the owner was ashamed to be driving a car badged as a Hyundai.

#105 of 109 Brand Prestige by ctl

Oct 25, 2010 (1:21 pm)

I think the prestige of a brand can be objectively defined as the weighted average of its car selling prices in a region (say NA, Europe, Japan...)
 
WAP (weighted average price): say brand BR sells 100 car A at $20K, 100 car B at $30K, then the WAP for brand BR is (20K * 100 + 30K * 100)/(100+100) = 25K
 
With that, we can easily rate the brand prestige in the NA market:
 
Tier 1: Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Maybach, Ferrari, Lamborghini...
 
Tier 2: Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, Lexus...
 
Tier 3: Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai...
 
The more high priced cars a brand sell, it increases its brand prestige, and vise versa.
 
Equus and Genesis certainly increases the brand prestige for Hyundai, quantitatively. But selling lots of Accent/Elentra would means the Hyundai brand can never have a high WAP.
 
And what's a good value? maybe low car price for a high WAP brand?

#106 of 109 Re: Brand Prestige [ctl] by stickguy

Oct 25, 2010 (1:27 pm)

Replying to: ctl (Oct 25, 2010 1:21 pm)
I assume you would put Acura and Infiniti into tier 2? And probably Volvo and caddilac also?

#107 of 109 Re: Count the South Koreans out... [Mr_Shiftright] by hpmctorque

Oct 25, 2010 (1:28 pm)

Replying to: Mr_Shiftright (Oct 24, 2010 8:46 pm)
I agree with everything, except careful with the champagne in the trunk in suit happy America.

#108 of 109 Re: Count the South Koreans out... [hpmctorque] by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Oct 25, 2010 (1:46 pm)

Replying to: hpmctorque (Oct 25, 2010 1:28 pm)
Okay then, a subscription to CIGAR Magazine.

#109 of 109 Re: Brand Prestige [stickguy] by ctl

Oct 25, 2010 (2:16 pm)

Replying to: stickguy (Oct 25, 2010 1:27 pm)
This (WAP) being an objective measure, where a brand is ranked wouldn't depend on my personal feelings too many brand to list, but not hard to estimate where they are.
 
This also imitate how our brain perception works. I think in most cases, when a brand is mentioned, the WAP score will be the first to surface. Also, for most people it takes a while and drastic changes for our brain to change the WAP perception...
 
I assume you would put Acura and Infiniti into tier 2? And probably Volvo and caddilac also?

Messages Page 11 of 11

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