ViperInBlack
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"Engineered like no other car in the world" - Mercedes Benz commercial from years past.
There are roughly 294,891,178 individuals living in the U.S.
According to an annual wealth survey, the ranks of U.S. millionaires surged 33 percent in 2004 compared to 2003, to a record 8,200,000 millionaire households, (net worth excludes primary residences). Allow for an error of 2.2%.
From those 8+ million households, are there just 2,000 households that would want to spend $100k on a well engineered, steetable, race car?
2,000 is what percent of 8.4 million?
If a company...oh say Daimler-Chrysler...wanted to sell 2k such vehicles...let's name the vehicle something like Viper...could it find 2,000 buyers among those 8.2 million households in the U.S. (not even considering exported vehicles)?
Could they sell 2,000 vehicles that have bare creature comforts, rough ride, but brutish acceleration, sensual looks and amazing handling and braking?
By design, the vehicle would not be a daily commuter, would not be something for a casual ride...it would meet basic governmental standards. It would be purchased by those who can afford, and therefore demand, something unique...something that no other company offers.
If such a vehicle could be built by such a company, this vehicle would never be designed to compete with other vehicles manufactured in the U.S.
Many sales would be to those who wanted to pursue racing. Many sales would be to those who "want a car just like the one I saw win all those races." Are there not 2k such individuals?
What would, however, prevent that from occurring is the belief that these same potential 2k households would really consider a Ferrari, Lambo, Porsche or...Corvette as an acceptable alternative.
Indeed, it would need to believe that each year there are 2k households wanting to buy such a streetable race car. The company would have to believe that there is a specific niche market in the U.S. for such a vehicle, a market not addressed by other manufacturers.
It would need to believe that the existence of such a car served as a brand identifier; that it brought attention to the entire line of automobiles.
Now, there must be a reason that this theoretical company with this hypothesized automobile does not emerge to address that potentially available population.
The answer does not lie in the economics of the stock market (indeed, the stock market is the chief source of the 1/3 increase in U.S. millionaires).
The answer not the lack of America's love affair for the automobile in general.
There must be another explanation.
Alice
There are roughly 294,891,178 individuals living in the U.S.
According to an annual wealth survey, the ranks of U.S. millionaires surged 33 percent in 2004 compared to 2003, to a record 8,200,000 millionaire households, (net worth excludes primary residences). Allow for an error of 2.2%.
From those 8+ million households, are there just 2,000 households that would want to spend $100k on a well engineered, steetable, race car?
2,000 is what percent of 8.4 million?
If a company...oh say Daimler-Chrysler...wanted to sell 2k such vehicles...let's name the vehicle something like Viper...could it find 2,000 buyers among those 8.2 million households in the U.S. (not even considering exported vehicles)?
Could they sell 2,000 vehicles that have bare creature comforts, rough ride, but brutish acceleration, sensual looks and amazing handling and braking?
By design, the vehicle would not be a daily commuter, would not be something for a casual ride...it would meet basic governmental standards. It would be purchased by those who can afford, and therefore demand, something unique...something that no other company offers.
If such a vehicle could be built by such a company, this vehicle would never be designed to compete with other vehicles manufactured in the U.S.
Many sales would be to those who wanted to pursue racing. Many sales would be to those who "want a car just like the one I saw win all those races." Are there not 2k such individuals?
What would, however, prevent that from occurring is the belief that these same potential 2k households would really consider a Ferrari, Lambo, Porsche or...Corvette as an acceptable alternative.
Indeed, it would need to believe that each year there are 2k households wanting to buy such a streetable race car. The company would have to believe that there is a specific niche market in the U.S. for such a vehicle, a market not addressed by other manufacturers.
It would need to believe that the existence of such a car served as a brand identifier; that it brought attention to the entire line of automobiles.
Now, there must be a reason that this theoretical company with this hypothesized automobile does not emerge to address that potentially available population.
The answer does not lie in the economics of the stock market (indeed, the stock market is the chief source of the 1/3 increase in U.S. millionaires).
The answer not the lack of America's love affair for the automobile in general.
There must be another explanation.
Alice
