[seanalltogether]

Maybe the problem is that cars can't be compared to household appliances when it comes to consumer behavior. Spending more for an appliance that you believe will last longer and be more powerful then a cheaper variation might feel like a smart buy. There are so many more variables when buying a car however.

[remus]

I think the scale of the products also plays a big part. A $500 hair dryer is really expensive (and for a hair dryer!), but $500 is the kind of money a lot of people have around, or could pull together if they wanted to. If you have a car that's 10x more than a 'normal' car you're looking at $200k+ which is not a price that's accessible to a huge majority of people. In other words, the dyson model of 'make something better and charge way more for it' doesn't seem to fit particularly well to cars because you end up with no market.