Quote:
Originally Posted by GuidoK
First of all I dont think M gmbh is a small devision. Audi RS, AMG migth even be smaller (AMG probably not anymore), and branches like RS (either ford or renault), Type R (honda) and such branding for certain.
But out of the reactions here nobody cares about how much money bmw makes. Thats interesting for the stock holders. The reactions here point out that the enthousiasts are interested in the cars bmw makes and how they perform or what sense of performance they give to the driver.
How is it that 20 years ago a bmw M car was the car that had the best engine performance (I'm pointing at the Euro spec e36 M3; living in europe, I remember what impact that car had), having an engine with real motorsport tech, and had by far the best handling over its competition, and now the competition has surpassed them? The current M3/4 is 50-80HP short on its competition, and the M2 (now bmw's nicest M car imho) is virtually outhandled/performed by a civic that costs less than half (where I live anyway). M cars now are expensive and dont really give the performance to beat the competition (so their price is not justified).
If I was interested in buying a car from a certain company because they made so many annual profit or revenue, I'd buy a toyota.
But annual profit/revenue or growth doesnt say anything about a car, it says something about how much they sell and how much profit margin they can squeeze out of it, in other words how expensive they can sell cheap things.
If profit margin is so high, or growth is so fantastic, why dont they endeavour in more exciting projects, like building a supercar (like mercedes does). Those can act like an image booster for a brand which appeals to enthousiasts.
Why manages alfa romeo, a tiny brand, to produce a mid size saloon with a ferrari build engine that produces 70hp more for only small price more than what a m4 costs? (and on top of that handles accordingly or even better, and also looks stunningly). Sure the interior quality or practicality might be slightly less, but that is not a key factor for a drivers enthousiast market. However its a key factor for the slightly older, more boring person. True, those persons have more money, and are more in numbers (see where I'm going?)
Or why does honda or renault build very focussed track cars that rival performance of a m2 for half the price.
Those brands dont build those cars because those cars will give them huge profits, but they build them because it gives them an image boost. Because those cars meet the demands of a few car/driver enthousiasts and that can have a snowballing effect. For those brands its an investment. And to me that is what lacking with bmw the last say 10-15 years.
The last bmw highlight in this matter was when they had the e46 m3 csl, and the biggest disappointment was probably not having an M version of the e89m because they raced that car in GT3 (but with V8, different suspension, etc), and they won everything. That car was hugely succesful. If growth and profit were so huge (now for 8 years in a row), why not build a street e89gt3 version, commemorating that race succes? Just an idea.
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Valid points. Not that I disagree with you. Has the M cars lost some of its aura over the years? Yeah, but does that make them less desirable? I don't think so. And I'll even throw the Audi RS and Mercedes AMG line in here as well.
There's no denying that for example, the new Honda Civic Type R approaches the performance of your favorite M car. Some may even say the Type R out performs it. But let's look what these cars are targeting though. Type R is aimed towards a much younger crowd with a bit less disposable income. M cars are aimed towards a more mature crowd, with more disposable income.
Lastly, I'll say this, as someone who is currently driving a Type-R like vehicle (Mazdaspeed 3 here). I bought the car when I was in my mid 20's and at that time, luxury/comfort anything was on the bottom of the list. Now that I'm in my early 30's, cars like my Mazdaspeed 3 and the Type R are down right punishing to drive, and I lack essentially all of the luxury convenience.
That to me is why my next car will be a M car. I want to go just as fast, I want to be just as agile/nimble, but damn it, I want the car to be livable as well.
That's my opinion.