Snakes do not work that way!

And I doff my chapeau to you for calling out the VW Beetle as a very solid contender for marketing overcoming potential stigma. Solid argument.

Yep, welcome to the world of p-redistribution you (p) One-percenter.

Thanks. Ironically I actually lost p for posting it. I think it has to do with volume and average, of course I don't know what goes into making the p sausage and frankly i probably wouldn't want to know. Haha.

Sure, we're drinking Founders All-Day IPA on my deck tonight. It's going to be 2 degrees, dress warmly. I'll attempt at keeping the grill hot enough for the steaks.

Alan, I would argue that this is an arena where there are a few universals transcendent of nationality. I have worked on marketing initiatives in over 20 countries and in categories that have image-based appeal (personal experience = Beer, Electronics and Clothing) people are proud to be able to show their stuff isn't the cheapest.

I'm not going to argue the business case because I don't have the numbers, but let's keep something in mind here, even if you are making money and revenue this does not mean you are as successful as your investment could be. Tata, and a few business journals, have noticed that the Nano is not selling as it should. Tata is a major player and this is a gigantic segment of population, so they need to get it right regardless of how profitable the current vehicle is. A closer to home example would be if you're going to try to be a major player in the American mainstream car market you have to have a strong offering in the midsize segment. So whether your last midsize model made money or not, you still have to redesign it for a new generation and get back into the fray. Otherwise you will be missing out on one of the highest volume and most competitive landscape in automobiles.

So to answer your comment, yes companies do, especially if it's a market they can't afford to lose.

WSJ has an interesting article 2 years ago on the subject.
http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1000142405270230452...

If everyone bought cars using logic, there would be no new car sales. In order to be a logical buyer, you need others to be illogical first.

I went from 2000 something comments to 12. Slight change. Haha. I actually lost 1p making that comment. Weird.

N/A**

**Base Size too small to show (n=1)

Sorry, my marketing analyst side just came out.

To quote The Lonely Island quoting Kevin Garnett, "ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!"