Everything You Want and Nothing You Don't Need...Or Not

Here is an article from the New York Times detailing a common marketing practice amongst big automakers.

If you've ever been in the market for a new car, you know that more often than not, to get that one or two options you really want, you have to purchase some bundle of options, thus backing you into a corner of significant cost increase. They usually include things that have nothing to do with each other and give the package names like the "Sun and Sound" package for example, as in a car I once purchased. Initially, I just wanted just the rear spoiler, but had to purchase the "Sun and Sound" package to get it, which included the upgraded stereo system (which gave you 7-way speakers instead of 6, and an upgraded sound system), and a sun roof in addition to the spoiler. Although I grew to like the sunroof, I could have lived without it, and I replaced the speakers and stereo system anyway as planned, so the added couple grand could have been spent elsewhere.

And that doesn't even consider more crucial things like such safety features as ABS, Traction Control or Side Airbags. Whether it be bundling expendable things like sunroofs and stereos or more crucial options such as the safety related systems I mentioned, this practice is absolutely egregious and at the heart of what's wrong with present day automanufacturing. We plan to put an end to it and bring auto manufacturing back to what was once good about the industry in the days of Henry Ford:

www.thomasnet.com

Giving the customer everything they need, and nothing they don't want and pricing it accordingly.