Quote:
Originally Posted by Table 5
This used to be true, but not any more. German cars have been slowly moving away from their focus on driving dynamics and putting more emphasis on comfort, tech and mass-market trends because that's what brings in the money. Otherwise, why the hell would such a thing like the X1/3/5 or 5 Series GT Exist? They're bread and butter is exactly the soccer mom and real estate agent crowd. They are coming out with 20 types of crossovers, and ignoring the cars that made them famous for driving. Hell, you can't even get most of their models with a manual transmission anymore....and that's the one thing that most enthusiasts demand.
Also look what VW is doing...moving away from what made it unique, and instead going the bigger and cheaper route.
I'm not bitter at all!
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I would agree with you to an extent. With our cars here (VW) there has been a shift in North America. And we now have a few models that are pretty much North America exclusives. But we still have the highly impractical CC, under sized Tiguan, and Golf/GTI if you want the true euro feel.
In BMW, Benz, Audi and Porsche's case, they have added model to appease a wider market with SUV's, but their core models. C-class, 3 series, A4, 911, have all remained true to their roots, and even though the cars might me bulking up a bit, they are getting faster, and better performing with each iteration, in lieu of some bigger dimensions.
Once they make a 3 series that has the performance qualities of a 89 Lincoln Town Car, then I would agree, but as it stands now, the customer is getting a better and better driving experience with each new model.