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I agree they have been cutting corners long before the last year or so however, that "cheap" feeling is a direct result of consumer demand. Regardless of focus groups and enthusiast asking for higher quality what they are willing to pay is the real voice of the people. There are very few car manufacturers that the people say, man they have gotten exponentially better over time. Toyota, GM, Ford, Chrysler and now even Honda have all had their hayday but have had to find ways to cut corners. Do you really think that BMW is trying to increase bottom line profit just cause, 10 or 20 years ago it wasn't uncommon to see dealership profits in the thousands and thousands of dollars per car now because people pay less you're typically in the hundreds so what happens, dealerships have to squeeze BMW. BMW cut profit margins a few years back to remain competitive and keep a certain build quality but their prices aren't astronomically increased. It's a cycle as consumers we create. It's doesn't cost less now to build cars then it did but we want bigger and bigger discounts. Were the only industry to consumers feel comfortable working from cost up, you have Best Buy pricematch the lowest price you find on that new TV but they still typically make a few hundred dollars profit, think about that in comparison to the 500 over invoice people expect on a new car. $1500 tv sells for $2300 and discounts to $2000, $40,000 dollars car holds $2400 profit and we want it for $500 over cost. The profit margins in dollars are the same but the cost of product is 2500% higher.
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