MoreRPMs said:
What if its performance is on par with say, a Carrera GT, but the price happens to be $140k?
Screw the poseurs who buy a car because of the badge on the hood, or those looking for "bang for the buck". I say don't compromise, and target this car at the true enthusiasts. There are enough car nuts out there who can appreciate a 10,000 rpm, 580 hp, F1-derived technological beast, are there not?
NO! There aren't!
This is a TINY, tiny market, already crowded with mfrs who ONLY MAKE cars for this niche!
Ferrari and Lambo do NOT make cars OTHER than in this price niche. The town is about big enough for ONE historically, Ferrari. Lambo is in and out of bankruptcy or some other car co's ownership. During the Roaring 90s, they emerged, but they are hardly on good footing. Another prolonged recession and they're as done as they were when the 80s crashed.
There are enough cars already in the 70-120k range, too. You have MB and Porsche and a huge glut of used Astons and Ferraris. Hell, you can get a 550M for less than $120k now. 996TTs for 70 or 80. Pretty cheap. There are just so many cars available and not that many buyers...
The NSX, to succeed, has to be priced at or near the Viper and Z06, but perform like a Ferrari. NOBODY, no matter how well it performs, even Carrera GT, is gonna buy a Honda at $140k, or a Lexus, for that matter.
C'mon, Ferrari has been doing this schtick for 50 years. They own the ultrahigh sports space. Newcomers like Aston and Lambo are functionally historically bankrupt companies, WHY they are mostly owned and parts'd by Ford and VW.
Screw the poseurs? Honda has to have the poseurs. The poseurs are the ones who drive profits. The masses. People not like US. You know, "everybody ELSE"?
I just see no reason for Honda to be making a car that is $100,000 when they cannot even sell RLs at half that. In the early days of Acura, there were NO cars in this niche. Acura created it. And, BMW and MB have released TONS of new models, broadening their sales range, because they LEVERAGED their superior inherent prestige. Now, they have reclaimed the space. Lexus is a downward-trending brand, sorry. They will fall down to where Infiniti and Acura are, not ascend to BMW. It's already been happening.
As for the comparison of cars to jets, this is absurd. People do not buy jets based upon the name. They buy them based upon capability and everyone costs about the same. If Honda can produce a faster jet, it will sell because time is money. If they can shave maintenance costs, it will sell. Look at Boeing vs. Airbus. When there is true competition in jet space, the better jet tends to rise to the top.
The last NSX was NOT a sales success, even as much better than a 348 as it was. Applying the same formula again and expecting it to work better this time isn't the definition of success, it's the definition of insanity.
The NSX probably cannot sell in competition with the 911. At Z06 or Viper prices, the options are a little bit better, but it has to have beyond Z06 or Viper performance. Paper numbers DO matter to people. 0-60 and peak HP.
See the problem here? The Z06 and Viper are already offering beyond most Ferrari performance. I mean, what Ferraris can outdrag these cars? The Enzo? The 430 looks fast as hell, but the Viper and Vette have been at it long enough to know that their numbers are no ringers. Even still, call them at parity. And, they're cheap. So, there's a downward pricing pressure on every carmaker. If they don't bring wow factor to the table on account of the badge, they have to get it somewhere else. Porsche brings wow factor. Ferrari does. MB does. Chevy doesn't. Dodge doesn't. And, Honda doesn't. So, the wow cars can get away w/ being slower. Nobody cares if the Z06 can smoke them, except for the ppl in that Ford GT thread here, but I digress...
Faster drag times elicit "so what?" among F-car guys. It's because their car has far superior chickmagnet coefficient. So, Honda, to sell, HAS to outperform the cars with similar CmCs. Basically, this is the opposite of the Acura/MB/BMW/Lexus strategy!
The "Corvette," per se, is not REALLY a Chevy. It's a CORVETTE. It has its own name, essentially is its own brand. Nobody tells ppl they drive a Chevy, they ALL drive Corvettes. Acura, like everyone else in premium, has pursued a brand-identification strategy. Numbers and letters. It works for Porsche, Ferrari, MB. Tell them "I have a Benz." Everyone goes whoa. Could be a C230K hatchback...it's a Benz. In their mind, they think big saloon. MB capitalizes on this. And, it's why Acura got rid of the Legend moniker, because people weren't associating its prestige w/ "Acura" as a whole.
So, how in hell does an "Acura" expect to compete with a "Porsche"? Acura has gone out of its way to make the Acura name the defining element here. There is no cool name like Viper or Corvette to attach. So, Honda'd better get one and hype it so that ppl KNOW EXACTLY WHAT CAR THIS IS. No blank stares at "NSX."
That's the only way they're not driving "just a Honda"...if Honda separates this particular model from its aegis. If they do, then it becomes no halo car. Chevy's other cars get jack from the Corvette. No trickledown. If they don't, the car's a sales failure.
This is the calculus I go through before I post "provocative" threads which get me into trouble with the moderators here and certain ppl complain about me. But, I am right. It's unfortunate that the world IS populated by vacuous image-minded people, but it's true nonetheless.
The "new NSX" needs performance, price, AND a name all in its favor. The brand, history, "F1," and all of that is insufficient to carry it.
