THE MARKET for future business cars will be based on more compact company cars as car makers break the link between size and prestige. Network Automotive boss Colin Bruder provides this special report.THE BUSINESS car market is set for a minor revolution as manufacturers overturn a century of linking a car’s size with its prestige.
The arrival of new cars such as the Audi A1, Aston Martin Cygnet and, potentially, the sub-1-Series BMW, signals this major shift. It’s significant.
Since the motor industry achieved a recognisable structure in the 1920s, manufacturers and customers have almost always linked a car’s size with its prestige. A luxury car was a large car.
However, we are seeing real efforts to overturn that thinking. The MINI has paved the way for this in recent years as a mainstream hatchback that frequently carries a L20,000 invoice price but now we are seeing further steps.
For example, the Aston Martin Cygnet. This bespoke version of the Toyota iQ city car is the most extreme example of this trend but the real shift is occurring with the arrival of the Audi A1, the Citroen DS3 and the mooted BMW 0 Series, a front-wheel drive hatch which could be based on the MINI platform.
These are prestige small hatchbacks that will carry price tags around 40% higher than a comparable mainstream car.
This divorcing of prestige and size has been necessary if the motor industry is to meet its future obligations to reduce the car’s environmental impact.
BMW, for example, has made huge progress in driving down the CO2 output of its cars in recent years but if it is going to continue to make improvements, BMW really needs to encourage customers to downsize into smaller, lighter machines.
It is possible to envisage a situation in 15 years where BMW’s core model is no longer the 3 Series but an 0 or 1 Series hatchback which sells in large numbers to the business car sector and has an ultra low CO2 output by today’s standards.
However, if small, prestige cars are to succeed, they must embody the values that their manufacturer represents. They must be as well built, as stylish, as well equipped, as comfortable, as safe and as satisfying to drive as larger models. This is a challenge to everyone involved – from engineers to marketers to sales people.
