Quote: UK car pricing is out of synch with the rest of the world because :
1. They MFG's get away with charging more
and
2. The associated governmental on-costs at the retail level are ridiculous.
The costs of production itself, regardless of whatever taxes are on it or markup, is higher than it is here largely because they provide the consumer more options.
Europeans custom order their cars with 5 times the frequency that Americans do. They simply want the exact car that they want when they're paying so much for it and are going to keep it for much longer than an American will. They don't settle quite as easily like those 30% of Americans that purchase a car that's not exactly what they wanted but was there on the lot.
Consumers here want options, but there's a limit to which they're willing to pay for them. Not everyone here wants to pay for the relative minority that wants a car exactly like they want it. And everyone ends up paying more when additional combinations of equipment are available because it impacts the overhead costs of producing a car.
