One more point about cars: Brian is right, people do indeed own cars because they make a statement about them. One proof point:
Henry Kaiser built his fortune in the aluminum industry. Late in life, he decided to create a car company and the Kaiser brand was born. Henry thought that America needed a base, entry level car again, like we had with Mr. Ford’ Model T. So Kaiser created the Henry J.
It flopped in the market place. Why? It turns out that, by the 1950s, people would rather buy a used status car than a new bare-bones car. Because it said something about them.
This same scenario is playing out today in India.
Tata Motors (yes, that’s the name of a car company) decided to build a base stripped down car to allow more Indians to purchase a car – they are right now selling the world’s cheapest car, the Tata Nano, for about $2100. And it is failing in the marketplace. Tata would have been wise to study the Henry J…
