Car Quality vs Commodity Car

One of the problems trying to sell anything these days is the growing tendency of consumers to reduce all products to commodity status. A small car's a small car. A flip camera is a flip camera. A laptop's a laptop. They just look for the best offer.

And it's true to a large extent. Most 4m sized small cars are very similar, there are few differences in performance, space, durability, reliability, economy or safety. It's the same with medium/small hatches about 4.3m in length or large hatches and saloons.If you make a car comparison in a car sector - SUVs, estates, MPVs - size is the main difference.

They may look slightly different. You might find a difference in their comfort. There's nothing a salesperson can claim as unique so they refer to brand quality. So for example a salesperson presenting a VW Tiguan may claim his product to be a quality car and dismiss the Yeti as cheap despite them both being built on a Golf platform. They might suggest their quality being in the Audi, BMW, Merc class but not as expensive. If you check my BMW X1 review they don't look comparatively expensive. What is quality?

Back in the 80s quality was the buzz word. I learnt quality was meeting peoples expectation. The standard was to get it right first time. The measure was if it had to be done a second time it failed. And there had to be quality systems in place.

When you compare cars they all seem to deliver performance, space, durability, reliability, economy, safety beyond what we might have expected. Car manufacturers do get it right first time. Most models don't fail and are in full production for their model life.

It seems most cars have quality. It makes you wonder about prestige. What have Audi, BMW and VW achieved that's so special? Then compare your findings with the long and rich history of achievements and innovations of Mercedes, Peugeot, Renault and Ford.

It could be cars are becoming commodities and we just want the best offer.

Regards
Ralph