[itchyouch]

Regarding the sports or performance trim, I feel that it's a price anchoring tactic for margin.

They painfully neuter the bottom trim to be able to advertise "starting at" with the most top end model.

Then they lock all the desirable features behind the higher trims. All of a sudden, the 29.5k base price is a sham and you have the option between the fully loaded 45k car or the more "reasonable" 39.5k car. But the reality is that the buyer just paid an extra 10k for heated leather seats, keyless entry, slightly upgraded speakers, some bigger wheels and a nicer looking front and rear bumper.

They understand that there's multiple psychological games to play. Status, reliability, etc... Advertise with the low price, then upsell, upsell, upsell, and use the finance arm to focus on monthly payments.

People are definitely tired of these tactics for sure.