Quote:
Originally Posted by seis-speed
Companies make mistakes at a higher degree than one might think. Porsche not offering a manual on 991.1 GT3’s is a recent example. It had underestimated the passions of it’s customer base, it is possibly, an all-time miss! Hopefully, that along with take rates on the M2 and F80 being so high for 6MT cars, that mistake is not made by BMW.
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This indeed a good counterexample. Still, the case for correction like this is nevertheless rare.
Let’s remember, too, that Porsche ended up coming out of this one better from the wear. As an immediate band-aid, they created the limited edition 911R with a version of the GT3’s 4L naturally aspirated offered exclusively with the MT which ended up fetching a tidy profit for their dealerships as I recall. Then, with that exercise having proved the demand was still there, they created another new model to follow-up - the GT3 Touring - which is in some ways the 911R by another name and remains the only way to get an MT in the GT3.
We’ll never know if Porsche’s profit is higher now than it would have been if they’d simply kept the manual in the GT3 option list to begin with. And, it’s true that it would be unfortunate for us if BMW had to go through similar hoops, but either way, the key is managing risk. Obviously bigger bets have potential for bigger rewards, and sometimes, even with careful research, it become obvious you left money on the table. BMW, however, has a different set of products, customers, and market conditions to work with.
Unfortunately, the latest rumors suggest even the “Pure” model may be in jeopardy, potentially leaving the manual transmission out of the M3/M4 party entirely. Hopefully that doesn’t happen.