Unfortunetly at times these genuine questions often attract a negative response that degrades the quality and atmosphere on the forum.
Edit: R1 Crasher - you had a very valid question. My response was not directed towards yourself.
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My post isn't about the pro's and cons of various chips.More about the difference in the pricing from market to market and the huge variations.It could just as easlily been another product.
I understand where the price differences for certain other products which might be higher due to size,weight etc to get here.But software isn't particularly expensive to ship.
The UK supports VW,Audi Seat and Skoda, and up until recently, Australia had only VW(and only the tunable versions) which doesn't even seem like a drop in the ocean.(Like Holden calling themselves an exporter)As for the US well we don't get a look in,in terms of numbers of cars and population.We are very lucky we get the choice of upgrades that we currently have,and hopfully is will expand further.It's up to the individual to make an educational decision on whats best for their car and the way they want to drive it,
When you look at it from a consumer perspective, it's understandable that someone would ask "why am I paying so much more for software downloaded from the same server than consumers do in other markets?". My guess is that in Aust we just don't have the product depth and market to sustain lower prices (for now), so tuners have to make it somewhere, and ECU tuning is where they can sustain themselves. When volume and demand grows, they can then diversify their product range, and become less reliant on ECU tuning. ECU tuning is more lucrative for that reason, and while others may enter the market and do it slightly cheaper, they may be less inclined to offer or develop other products.
I heard in December that APR had only chipped about a 100 Polo GTI's to date.
I wonder how many have been sold since Jan 06? What would the percentage be ?
Not only for APR, but for all the chip manufacturers. My guess would be that the spread of APR v GIAC is about 65:35 based on this forum and REVO even less.
In all are we looking at a total of 200 odd chipped GTI's around Oz?
These market figures would probably be indicative of why the prices are so high compared to other markets.
As stated in a different tread it is our duty as consumers to constantly remind our suppliers that their prices may be too high .... :)
r1 crasher---
I think the cost of chips is simple economics.The manufacturer charges a fee,now whether thats a per chip/flash cost,per chip+a yearly fee or just a outright fee . The importer has to add to the cost,advertising ,rent,wages etc etc .So after calculating all of this ,each chip would come out a net cost.
now taking into account the net cost from the limited customer base that Australia has as a pose to England or The USA,then at least getting a return and not losing money gets very hard.
As the larger countries sell sooooo many upgrades,im sure the manufacturers would offer a much more discounted cost as a pose to our small country.
and again ill reiterate 99gti's comments,keep it on topic and keep it nice.... the team have been informed of this thread and will be keeping a close eye on it.
Just to give people a rough idea what a Chipped NA mk3 Golf VR6 is like here compared to the states. Its something like $300 US compared to $800AUD:( Now thats using GIAC so I don't know about other chip tuning companies but thats a rough guestimate to what its worth kinda thing.
Polo forum Contributors,
ive been asked by ADMIN to clean this thread up and to close it.Seems that certain people in this forum cannot have a adult like conversation about chips and this always happens ,hense the EXEC team always jumping in early or editing/deleting the thread.
Everyone knows the rules,the exec team are not here to babysit and we are certainly not here to constantly keep a eye on you guys.
VWW exec team.