Quote: A man is known by the company he keeps. And it is said about cars: The cars we drive say a lot about us.
Cars are aspirational. One quote captures this beautifully: All those cars were once just a dream in someone else’s head!
At Auto Punditz, we have tried to help you understand the Car OEM's Positioning better, by categorizing them into 5 broader segments.
1. Top of the Line :
These cars are often the pinnacle in terms of innovation, engineering, features, and identity. They represent the highest standard of achievement of manufacturing and technology. Quite often, the manufacturers have fixed very limited production. Ownership is exclusive and often, unique.
The pricing is premium and incidental. The standard features like fuel efficiency do not apply to these car buyers. The pride of ownership and boasting point is the only reasons for purchase.
The owners are exclusive and are supreme achievers or persons of exalted status like persons from the Royal Families, Heads of States, Business Magnates.
Truly aspirational in the highest sense. The cars often end up as collector items.
Some of the cars in these segments are Maybach, Bentley, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Rolls Royce.
2. Luxury Cars :
These cars are only a few notches below the Top of Line cars. These cars too have a similar pedigree as the Top of Line Cars.
The difference is that the owner may not be exclusive and unique to one person or a batch of persons: like in a Top of Line Car. They could be available based on specific market demand. These cars would have achieved a level of technical perfection that makes them the pride of the owner and the manufacturers.
Porsche and Maserati are two brands that come to mind while discussing these cars.
3. Premium Cars
These Cars are the top-end cars amongst the cars that are mass manufactured.
They are often loaded with the best possible features and innovations to keep them up to date, aesthetically and ergonomically designed, and meeting the aspirations of the super achievers, these are the attributes of these cars.
New technology, like EV, is often the extra special feature of these cars: which are top-end versions in the product range of the particular car family.
The cars come with a customized package for their customers, a special feature.
A host of cars including Lexus, Volvo, etc are falling into these categories of cars.
4. Semi Premium Cars
These cars are a notch below the premium cars.
They offer almost the same experience as the Premium Cars with some features lacking.
The pricing and customized package for customers too would be a little lesser.
They are the first step in meeting the initial aspirations of the customer and the manufacturer to scale up.
5. Mass-Market Cars
These cars are made considering the functionality and affordability of the customer and the market. The features and specifications are made to meet the statutory requirements primarily.
They make up the bulk of the production of the manufacturers. The margins for these cars are very competitive and customized packages may not be there like for the higher category car segments.