Price & Product

[PeterHBne]

When ruminating on the price of product for Polo GTI's consider there are not thousands and thousands of Polo GTI's out there.

Product sellers run a business.

They price their product according to market demand and profit models.

If there were large numbers of GTI's there would be a larger demand for GTI product, resulting in product likely been cheaper.

[gti_freak]

There are not many products relate to Polo Gti in reality. Which is POOR!

[PeterHBne]

I'm refering to a specific product but dare not talk of it directly lest there be more trouble!

[gtimk5]

i think you are going to start another hot topic here Peter.
This forum does not need it.......


The Australian market is tiny compared to other parts of the world. The majority of counties are LHD as well which can make some things difficult.

[99gti]

When ruminating on the price of product for Polo GTI's consider there are not thousands and thousands of Polo GTI's out there.

Product sellers run a business.

They price their product according to market demand and profit models.

If there were large numbers of GTI's there would be a larger demand for GTI product, resulting in product likely been cheaper.

You hit the nail on the head. When thinking about a similar product for another make and model (I'll use a WRX for this example) consider these things also:

1. How many cars with that platform have been sold here
2. What gains can be made from a similar type of upgrade for each car

The Mk4 GTI wasn't a huge seller here because it was always in the shadow of the WRX because of price and performance. The new golf gti has changed that and the polo gti also performs considerably well given the price difference. So the answer to question 1 is that there are less for VW's, but numbers are steadily growing.

The answer to number 2 is interesting when compared with the WRX. Subaru did a great job marketing wise when it was released. It wasn't plush, it was born to be a pure road warrior. It came out of the factory with great specifications performance wise but forget about the comfy stuff. They just cost more and weighed more. The Mk4 came in from another angle being less powerfull, but built like a true european car. It's doors were heavy, it's dash was solid and it weighed enough to sink a small ship. These differences is what effects the cost of VW upgrades today.

The AGU 1.8T came out of the factory with pathetic figures for the motor it was. On paper it was a tricked up little motor and the polo has taken that one step further with variable valve timing, but still the factory figures are quite poor. The performance gain from modification is overwhelming but the numbers on the road here still lack to make mass R&D cost efective.

The Subaru 2.0 and 2.5 T come out of the factory hot enough to cook a roast in and they sold like hot cakes! With that much market interest every engine tuner out there jumped on board that ship to develop aftermarket upgrades for it. Because it was already such a hot motor, tuning their computers produced minimal gains as opposed to tuning the AGU motor (I'm refering stock mapping vs after market mapping for each motor in standard form). ECU upgrades flooded the market for the WRX and prices dropped very quickly. Because of their instant cult status more R&D went into aftermarket off the shelf items such as bolt on turbos, bolt on exhausts, bolt on anything you could think of.

We are only just starting to see products like this now here and yes they are still expensive. If recent sales figures for the VW's are anything to go buy I'd say over the coming years we should hopefully start to see some price drops. The Aussie ecconomy is also holding up well wich means parts are cheaper, but shipping is still a killer.

So yes - peter. I'd agree with your statement. Parts for VAG cars are in less demand, but that demand is slowly growing. Lets hope that slowly we the consumers start to also see the benefits.