Not to mention theor profit margins.

Lamborghini was never a mass market brand, vw have decided to impose that on them

by reskinning a toureg and selling it with a badge tax

Maybe so, and if they go that route fully it will be a big mistake

Having an entry level car isnt a mistake tho

I don't blame them for doing it from a financial perspective, but no car enthusiast should be supporting this behaviour

Also, man, the friggen Cayenne is a reskinned Toaureg

Try telling that from driving i
One

and I doubt it will be a mistake; the majority of people buying supercars these days aren't buying them to drive them, they're either buying investments or buying badge status

These days?

This is a new thing?

It really is not.

the people who bought f40s and f50s and countaches often bought them for driving thrill

not for status or investment

And the people who bought Jonkheere Coupes?

You think they bought them because they liked how they drove or because they were a mobile status symbol?

Much like Bentley and Rolls Royce today.

That's why Ariel Atoms are a thing now: Driving enthusiasm

uh

Cars have gotten faster. Besides that, nothing has changed

back then buying a rolls royce was buying luxury and reliability

Supposedly

it wasn't to show off to others as much as it was to provide yourself with comfort

and believe me, the classic rolls royces are a world apart from their "competitors" or alternatives

I've driven a 34 SS1 and a 38 wraith

admittedly there's 4 years between them and the wraith was probably in much better condition but the SS1 is ... terrifying in comparison

it wasn't as smooth, it constantly triggers your instinct to try to counter steer, you can literally see the flex in the chassis while you drive just by the door gaps

realistically it wasn't until the late 50s or early 60s that the justification for the price of luxury cars started to waiver and even then it's questionable because the overengineering to produce reliability in rolls and bentley was so extensive

also I don't think anyone bought new cars as investments until probably the last 30 years because historically it wasn't worth it for such considerable periods of time, that trend has only changed very recently

In any case we can partly blame any backslide on enthusiast support (and there has been some) on milennials.

Who, in general, give no shits about cars and just want them for practicality and status

I mean...look at the mini suvs that are out right now

So much sporty potential...wasted

Honestly I think it's mainly down to two factors; the medias portrayal of wealth and frankly the erosion of pleasurable driving vehicles due to technology

And that dkes not exactly encourage risky moves from car mfgs

Eh.

You can still have a pleasurable drive with tech. It has simply moved down market since it gets dangerous once you start getting into 600+ power figures.

Less of an issue when you have 155hp, whether that comes from a V8 or a 4 pot

technology has made cars faster but also less engaging for a driver, so the "pure driving experience" doesn't really exist in modern cars, the result is the car enthusiast can buy pretty much any of the top line vehicles and it be comfortable and refined, meanwhile the media has a bunch of fucks showing off in lambos and ferraris looking like total cunts which puts a lot of people off buying them because a large amount of wealthy people don't want to draw attention to themselves, the majority I'd say

I kind of call this a case of rose tinted lenses.

Kind of