Man, I can't believe you knocked the Pinto.
Whipped out the econ text books and thunk a little bit about this problem. I found the following thought exercise to be helpful:
Company Y makes widgets. That's widget spelled "F-J-R." It prices the widgets at about $13,000, a price at which it expects to make a reasonable profit per widget, assuming it sells X number of widgets. Suddenly the marketing research weenie says "Hey, that F-J-R widget kicks a$$! At $13,000, you could probably sell a number n > X!" (Marketing research weenies have a way with words. That's why they get all the hot chicks.) This being almost a year until production of the 2005 model year is expected- it has to be just the right shade of blue, mind you- Company Y could probably ramp up production to sell a number n > X, and increase profits accordingly. So why don't they just do that? They get more $$, we get more bikes, and nobody waits in line.
Then it dawned on me:
BECAUSE THEY'RE LYING!!!
What makes much more sense is that Company Y is kind of concerned that n may actually be < X, and having read a story about painting a certain fence that was written by a man fond of steamboats, they learned the lesson. Make it COOL to put down your money early and wait for a long time to get what you want. (The aforementioned author being distinctly American, it seems that an American motorcycle company has already figured out this trick to getting a fence painted and has enjoyed great success with the strategy.) Thus imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and now metric motorcyclers can have inconvienience of deposits and long, uncertain waits for the ride of their dreams. Bravo! May the free market prevail! Go buy a Kawi Concours! (After this many years, they can't be wrong.)
Whipped out the econ text books and thunk a little bit about this problem. I found the following thought exercise to be helpful:
Company Y makes widgets. That's widget spelled "F-J-R." It prices the widgets at about $13,000, a price at which it expects to make a reasonable profit per widget, assuming it sells X number of widgets. Suddenly the marketing research weenie says "Hey, that F-J-R widget kicks a$$! At $13,000, you could probably sell a number n > X!" (Marketing research weenies have a way with words. That's why they get all the hot chicks.) This being almost a year until production of the 2005 model year is expected- it has to be just the right shade of blue, mind you- Company Y could probably ramp up production to sell a number n > X, and increase profits accordingly. So why don't they just do that? They get more $$, we get more bikes, and nobody waits in line.
Then it dawned on me:
BECAUSE THEY'RE LYING!!!
What makes much more sense is that Company Y is kind of concerned that n may actually be < X, and having read a story about painting a certain fence that was written by a man fond of steamboats, they learned the lesson. Make it COOL to put down your money early and wait for a long time to get what you want. (The aforementioned author being distinctly American, it seems that an American motorcycle company has already figured out this trick to getting a fence painted and has enjoyed great success with the strategy.) Thus imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and now metric motorcyclers can have inconvienience of deposits and long, uncertain waits for the ride of their dreams. Bravo! May the free market prevail! Go buy a Kawi Concours! (After this many years, they can't be wrong.)
