36654
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MSRP $4250 in March/April 1986: Based on the CPI, the inflation adjusted value of the original MSRP was $9082 in April 2013. That's more expensive than a G single but less expensive than a F twin trail bike.
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MSRP $4250 in March/April 1986: Based on the CPI, the inflation adjusted value of the original MSRP was $9082 in April 2013. That's more expensive than a G single but less expensive than a F twin trail bike.
I am more than a little dubious about the CPI comparison. My doubt does not come from the calculation itself, rather changes in how BMW is weighting its pricing around the world. In the mid 80's and maybe fifteen to twenty years after the US appeared to have a pricing advantage in all of the models. With BMW's increased presence in South America there seems to be a change in how it, and the other manufacturers, weights the pricing of its models nation to nation.
I will give you credit for questioning the use of the US CPI as the sole factor. IMHO, the euro-dollar exchange rate should be a factor, but the BMW car line "seems" to have maintained maintain US price points since the early 90's. I wonder what the real profit margins have been over the past several decades on the US market.
Mika, is it silly markets, or how BMW advertised its bikes back then? I point to my R1200S as evidence, it sold state-side less than one year. Yet, it sold in AU, South Africa, and Europe through 2009.
The car line has some advantages that allow the price point. Economies of scale are in its advantage. In addition the Finance Sector of BMW has done some impressive (from an investor point of view) in the US.
On the bike side BMW has held the line to a great degree with prices when compared to other big bikes. H-D, Indian, Victory and even the Wing are more expensive than we realize around here by comparison. Not saying BMW's are cheap but not as high priced as the market competition might allow them to be. The sport market with the S 1000 RR is getting a steal.
In the early 2000s, in the post BMW British Invasion erra, BMW went through each of its product lines to decided if they were keepers or not. The Motorrad division was the first to go under scrutiny. Obviously it passed in a revised form and set a standard for the remaining evaluations. The profit margin in the US market no doubt played a big role.