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Originally Posted by Sedan_Clan
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Originally Posted by Poochie
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Originally Posted by werdn
Wow, one of the rare scenarios where enthusiasts put money where their mouths are!
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More than likely they crunched the number and realized that they wouldn't sell half the G87 M2s and 30% of the G8X M3/4 they currently do, had they not offer a manual option..
I personally would care as much about BMW as a Volvo or KIA (0%), had they not offer a clutch operated vehicle and I sincerely predict a lot other share the same exact sentiment. |
Offering a manual does provide BMW access to a segment of the car buying public that other manufacturers abandoned long ago, BUT…..
…people didn't really want manuals in those other cars anyway. Their take rates were significantly lower than BMW's manual take rate. So all things considered, the manual enthusiasts still chose BMW despite manuals being offered by competitors. |
For sure, they captured a specific market demographic by offering a manual option but take that away from the equation and tell me what can a BMW offer that Mercedes, Audi, Lexus, Cadillac, ect can't do better or about the same.
Auto BMWs are ok but when compared to the competition, they really don't add anything unique to the segment that makes they stand out above the crowd - not even a lower price tag.