Repositioning Spree Spawns Outpouring Of Limited Editions
The Age
Wednesday May 10, 1995
AT LEAST we've seen the end of ``beat the Budget" advertising. What buyers have to watch out for now is called the ``repositioning" of models in the market frame.
The problem that car makers have to deal with is that outright discounting is bad for dealer and customer morale mainly those customers who have just bought that particular model at full ``ask".
So an absolute deluge of ``limited editions" under several guises has begun, even before the expected yen-induced price rises start.
What sometimes happens is that these ``limited editions" normally about $500 worth (to the maker) of goodies advertised as $2000 free can conceal a downgrading of a model. Some ``limited editions" can become permanent.
Industry watchdog Autospec reports a new Subaru Liberty limited edition model called the Enduro wagon may do just that. It adds roof rails and alloy wheels (which are, amusingly, different for different states, so they must be clearing out some old stock) to the entry- level LX all-wheel-drive wagon.The price goes up just $50.
Mitsubishi has decided to add another 300 limited edition Advance versions of the Magna sedan and wagon, after releasing an initial 1100 last November.
These benefit from the seat belt webbing clamps and security immobiliser system recently loaded into all Magnas at an extra $200.
Honda has chucked in a limited edition of its Civic GLi four-door.
For no extra price you get air-conditioning, floor mats and headlamp and bonnet protectors.
Quite a number of makers and importers hurried to get their price changes in before any Budget announcement, to try and ease the pain.
Nissan, for instance, chopped 3.1 per cent off its list price for the LX Bluebird, now down to $29,990. A facelifted Bluebird should be in the showrooms about now, but even so this car has been outselling the combined sales of Mazda 626 and its Telstar clone.
The minor facelift includes a new grille and polished alloy wheels on all models, plus driver airbag and seat belt webbing clamps as standard. However, the LX loses cruise control while the Ti and SSS get a new model CD player and rear mudflaps. SSS and Ti prices are unchanged at $35,450 and $36,650 while the LX has that just-under-30 grand price at least until the yen bites again.
Ford has boosted its GLi sedan and wagon prices by 1 per cent (funny how we get press releases on everything except price increases) which makes the baseline six-cylinder sedan $27,715 more than $1000 dearer than the Commodore Executive.
Volvo is ``repositioning" the 440, which is probably in the last eight or nine months of its life. It has dropped the limited edition 440S and added a 440SE priced under the GL at $35,950 in manual. It gets the Migrano leather interior from the GLT, ABS brakes as standard and a rear stabiliser bar.
Mercedes-Benz has actually reduced prices for its C220 and C280 models, but this reflects dropping the cruise control and metallic paint from the 220 (now $75,500-$88,100) and electric roof and metallic paint from the 280 (now $102,700-$107,600).
However, the baseline C180 Esprit has moved up 3.4 per cent to $54,300, and the Classic, Elegance and Sport models have all gone up accordingly. The same 3.5 per cent increase due to the strengthening of the German mark against the Oz dollar has been applied across the board for the E-Class and S-Class cars. The top S-Class now costs a severe $351,200.
BMW has also jacked up prices for the same reason, and mainly by an average of 2.5 per cent, although the just-released 316i Compact is unchanged. The 318i, which was BMW Australia's cheapest car before the Compact, is now $47,650 in manual form, which makes the Audi 80 at just under 40 grand look even sharper value.
All the other 3-Series cars have increased, as have the Fives and even the just-released 7-Series luxos have gone up by one per cent with the 750iL flagship now at $265,000.
Land Rover has added two more models to its Discovery range (now up to 12 variants), while increasing warranty from one year/unlimited kilometres to two years/50,000 km retrospective to all new Land Rovers sold from 1 January. The new vehicles are an ES V8i manual ($63,160) and ES TDi Turbo-diesel auto ($65,840).
These are now the most expensive Discovery versions, but are still well under comparable Mitsubishi Exceed and Toyota Land Cruiser turbodiesel versions. And just in case you thought we had run out of limited editions, they have brought back the Rossignol version of the Discovery, building 100 with air-con, central locking, electric windows and cruise control plus twin sunroofs, roof bars and ski rack.
© 1995 The Age
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