Re: marketing a car in the usa (& elsewhere) - lotus/nissan/alfa

[James Montebello <jamesm@domain.elided>]

On Thu, 17 Oct 2002, Jon Pike wrote:
> Got curious,  and went to the British Alfa site,  and a currency
> calculator site..  here's the current
> prices on UK cars converted to $USD:

You can't really directly compare these prices.  First, in most of Europe,
sales taxes (VAT) are included in the displayed price, which inflates
it relative to the US price.  Second, taxes in general are much higher
than in the US, which also inflates prices.

Even though the pound worth is 50-60% more than the dollar, displayed
prices on most items in the UK "look right" to these American eyes if
you simply swap the pound sign for a dollar sign.  This was true in the
late 80s when the pound was roughly $1.90, and it was still true in the
late 90s, when the pound was roughly $1.60.

Sadly, this wasn't just for high-ticket items like cars.  It was true
for everything from a burger at the pub to a pair of sneakers to a dress
shirt to a Japanese motorcycle.  Quite astonishing, and no wonder the
Brits feel a bit better off now, since prices have gone from 90% above
US prices to "only" 60% above them in the past 12 years.  The only items
I could find that violated this rule were books, which sell for about
the same price in converted dollars.

As recently as 1998 (pre-Euro), prices also varied wildly from one EU
country to another.  Renting a car in Spain, for example, cost half
as much as renting exactly the same car in Italy, and about 50% less
than renting it in France.

Perhaps it's better now that the Euro is making this obvious, but the
UK doesn't yet use the Euro.

james montebello
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