Recession to promote rebirth of the "downmarket" exec car??

ninty9er

Having had a look through the "the year is 1990..." thread, I'm wondering whether the Omega, Camry, Scorpio, Safrane will be re-launched on the European market. Many of these cars have equivalents on sale in Asian and US market, but given that BMW and Merc may now be beyond the reach of some people who wbought them in Celtic Tiger Ireland, and those that CAN afford them may be too embarrased to flaunt it, is there an emerging gap that is currently the stomping ground of the new Honda Accord, Hyundai Sonata, Pug 607 and (massively overpriced) Citroen C6.

johndaman66

Think the scenario you suggest probably will/ is panning out to a certain extent ninty9er. Having said that though think there will always be a certain amount of badge snobery and hence a certain amount of demand for Merc's, BMW's, Audi's and the like. There was a certain amount of these makes being sold in the early 90's too, albeit not as many as in the naughties no doubt.

Another possibility is that these makers may start producing cut price alternatives without all the toys to compete more with the main stream higher volume sellers, if indeed they are not already doing so. Personally I'd rather a good solid reliable car without a load of unnecessary gizmo's that may (will in some cases) give trouble. Not that I'd be buying a car in the Merc/ BMW/ Audi league either.

Berty

Subaru finally have released their Diesel engine.

The Legacy is a great spec'd car much cheaper than any equivalent.

HashSlinging

This is exactly where the EXEO will be aimed.

Anan1

I can't see it, TBH - the E-Class, for example, is cheaper than ever both to buy and to tax new, and used ones are depreciating hard. Plus, the Irish are bigger badge-slaves than most IMO.

unkel

Quasi-executive saloons only sell in countries where the overwhelming majority of people haven't a clue about cars. Like in Asia and the US.

"those that CAN afford them may be too embarrased to flaunt it" will buy a second hand proper executive car rather than an '09 Hyundai Sonata or other such sh1te.

Saab Ed

HashSlinging wrote: »

This is exactly where the EXEO will be aimed.

Nah you see it needs to be A6 sized to be a proper barge.

kindalen

i really like the C6,but would only ever buy one about 8 years old.....actually much as i like it dont think i'd ever really buy it.

Tipsy Mac

Our dark ages road tax system in Ireland keeps these cars off our roads, nothing else. Europe in some parts may be different but if you look at the UK as a real world market the vast majority of cars sold there are diesel so theres little or no market for these type of cars in petrol form there.

-Chris-

The A4 is in the low-€30s, as is the 9-3. You can buy an A6 for sub €40k. The E-Class has come down €20k. The mass-market luxury cars will need to be priced below these, and at that point they're probably the same cost as the standard model mass-market car.

The gap has closed significantly in the last while, I don't see it being worth the manufacturers while to invest the R&D into new models & niches in such a depressed market.

maidhc

Well the mondeo is now as big as the Granada and in higher trim levels is a good equivalent to any Merc. Same can be said for the Passat, and definately the Passat "CC".

In many ways it is a matter of personal choice whether someone buys a VW or Merc at this stage. The price differential isn't that great, compared to 1990 when a decent Merc was more expensive than a house in the country and twice the price of a Sierra.

pburns

maidhc wrote: »

The price differential isn't that great, compared to 1990 when a decent Merc was more expensive than a house in the country and twice the price of a Sierra.

The way property prices are going we will soon see a situation where an E or S-class is comparable in price to a 3-bed semi.

ninty9er

-Chris- wrote: »

The A4 is in the low-€30s, as is the 9-3. You can buy an A6 for sub €40k. The E-Class has come down €20k. The mass-market luxury cars will need to be priced below these, and at that point they're probably the same cost as the standard model mass-market car.

You see, if the market works properly, the price of your average Mondeo type should hit €20k entry soon enough...you can get an entry level Focus for €15k with not too much bargaining, leaving the market at the €30-€35kish bracket to those who might buy a Scorpio over an A6, given that they could buy one heck of a Scorpio for the same price as a fabric seater, no rear electrics, bog standard A6 type (I know you can't get an A6 without rear electrics anymore, but the trim levels wouldn't be on par).

If BMW Audi and Merc have slashed prices, it's only a matter of time before the rest will too. Sales figures are as low as they've been since pre Celtic Tiger...something's got to give.

Drummerboy08

The majority of cars we have put on fleet this year have been either 320d's or A4's. We've even put out a Scirocco. What im getting at is, the normal rep mobile such as the Mondeo and Passat has not been in demand as much as the sales manager car - such as the A4 or 3 series.

-Chris-

I'd say you'll see a lot of companies who haven't updated their car policies to take the new pricing into account - so now their drivers who used to be able to afford top-spec repmobiles can now afford premium models.

Sconsey

pburns wrote: »

The way property prices are going we will soon see a situation where an E or S-class is comparable in price to a 3-bed semi.

Funny you should say that, it made me remember an Irish review of a car I saw a long time back where the reviewer said something like...'lovely car but when it gets to the point where you could buy a house for the same money it is getting a bit silly'.
I think it was for the first Lexus that was introduced to the Irish market and I could be wrong but it was priced around £60,000 (thought that doesn't really make sense as it was probably an LS400, hardly 60 grand). Still, the price of a new Lexus could nearly buy you a small house in the early 90's.

unkel

Sconsey wrote: »

I think it was for the first Lexus that was introduced to the Irish market and I could be wrong but it was priced around £60,000 (thought that doesn't really make sense as it was probably an LS400, hardly 60 grand). Still, the price of a new Lexus could nearly buy you a small house in the early 90's.

You're not far off with your figures. In the early 90s the first Lexus was the topmodel LS400 and it didn't cost quite as much as £60k (more like £50k or so I'm guessing) but an entry level small 3 bed semi-detached house in Lucan at the time was about £30k - you could get a decent house for much less than that outside the Dublin area, obviously.