I've heard about that practice, although only in connection with Mercedes, not BMWs. I've always wondered who'd actually be more likely to order his car that way: a person with a big-engined car who wants to be discreet and not appear to be indulging in conspicuous consumption -- or the owner of a smaller-engined car who hopes it might be mistaken for a more expensive model.
Geoff
snipped-for-privacy@vrx.news (Richard Sexton) haute in die Tasten:
IMHO it is butt ugly nevertheless.
Frank
Both.
And remember there is always many more entry-level models on the streets than top-of-the-line models.
Juergen - 1982 W123 240D auto Euro sedan with option code 260 = Elimination of model designation on trunk lid; with such an old car this makes sense as the model designation was not glued on only as today but two holes were bored into the trunk lid - and these two holes are potential rust spots
Of course MB sells more Maybachs in LA alone than in whole Germany - in Germany many people do not want to show their wealth and so never ever would buy a Maybach despite the fact they could buy one from cash simply.
But also besides that the market for Maybachs is _very_ limited - and those people now having bought a Maybach do not buy one in the next five or seven years: I always said the production figures MB stated they want to reach are way too high.
And no, I do not know of any real production figures. Anyone else maybe?
Juergen
No kidding. It's just silly. A lot of expensive watches look realy really odd to the point of looking stupid. If you want a Breguet tourbillion buy a Breguet tourbillion. But this thing just looks cheap to me.
Why is this? Is it out of a fear of being kidnapped and held for ransom? I remember reading that this was the case in the Seventies in both Germany and Italy because of the Baader-Meinhof gang and the Red Brigades. I recall that at the time Fiat, particularly, made their high-end models anonymous looking for this very reason. But I'd have thought that this concern was no longer current.
Or is it simply the prevailing European socialistic sentiment? I can't imagine why it should be seen as shameful to be obviously wealthy. If nothing else, it gives the proles something to aspire to.
Geoff
snipped-for-privacy@u1.netgate.net (Geoff Miller) haute in die Tasten:
No. It is a difference of cultural behaviour. Europeans, especially from the west of Europe, tend to show quite a deal of understatement instead of boasting about their wealth. If people see somebody with an ridiculously expensive car, say: a Ferrari Enzo Ferrari, they think that its driver has not worked hard for the money and that he needs the car to support his weak personality. From what I have heard and seen, this behaviour is totally different to other regions of the world, where it is common amongst the wealthy to show their wealth loud and clear.
When President Bush travels with a car, he uses a big, big limo specially designed for him. When the leader of the german government travels in a car, he uses a VW phaeton (of course a bullet proof version). Travelling around with a Maybach would bring him bad polls for obviously wasting tax money. When Mercedes introduced the big 600 limousine back in the 60's, german government used to hire some 600 limos and landaulets just for the case of official visits of foreign politicians, the usual transportation for domestic leaders were ordinary S-classes. Since decades Germany was always a very weak market for Rolls Royce. These cars are too "posh" for the german customers. The same is true for Maybach. I fmaybach would regard Germany as an important market for that cars, they would have more showrooms for the customers to see the car. Currently they run exactly two locations, one in Munich, one in Berlin - quite a low number for a country with 82 million inhabitants.
Frank
Frank already gave an excellent answer.
Some things I can add:
Terrorism of the 1970's is different to today's as once political and industrial leaders were individual targets for RAF and Red Brigades but nowadays the common man is the target of arab terrorists so the car one drives is not so important anymore. Fear of kidnapping - by gangsters, not terrorists - is wide-spread amongst very rich people but in reality the danger of being kidnapped from a car is extremely low in Western Europe - and even if one drives a bullet-proof car there is no 100 per cent security. What these cars can give is a feeling of security and it helps against amateurs but not professionals.
Vehicles like a Maybach always put you in the focus of everyone - many people do not like that, they prefer to drive an _ordinary_ car just _not_ to stick out from the crowd.
And there is also many rich people who are not interested at all in cars: They drive S-Classes etc. just because their friends and business partners do and/or expect them to do so, but not because they really want one.
Juergen
[...]
Very interesting stuff. Thanks, gentlemen.
Geoff
...and I saw my first Maybach on the street yesterday. I was driving and it was coming in the opposite direction and I noticed it by thinking it looked like a Merc but was subtly different.
It stopped at a mini-roundabout (a very English traffic measure) to let me turn right as I had priority. I gestured several times to give him right of way so I could have a good look on passing by, but he wouldn't. So I had to see its black profile in my rear-view mirror.
Saw too little to say much more, unfortunately. There is a showroom in London, but who's got the time to go...?...
DAS
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