TAD Prices in Europe
 

I have inquired on CR-1 prices with the EU TAD distributor located in germany.

The best he could do was EUR 38k ($50k), which is 56% higher ($18k) then what they can be purchased for in the US ($32k).

:confused-22:

Yikes! :no:

Mike

Makes no sense to me. :scratch2:

Indeed... they are made in Asia go I guess transport/fees/etc won't be much different. The dealer apparently asked TAD the details but the simple answer was that the price is eur38k!

Are you surprised?
Cars, made in Europe (!!) like Audi, Mercedes, BMW, are also a lot cheaper in the US. No logic whatsoever behind this...

Luckily the opposite is true with one of my favorite audio manufacturers ;) (starts with a B...)

That is a very fortunate exception for us! :D
Enjoy your hunt for new speakers! :thumbsup:

Sure there is. North America is still their biggest market and don't forget Porsche!

I should add, at least for now... :D Chinese sales for BMW are up 75% as compared to 18% for US as of last year and they are catching up with something like 56,000 cars vs 65,000 for quarterly sales in US.

Biggest market = higher demand? I thought the law of supply and demand would then make them more expensive over in the US?

Or, bigger market = more dealers competing with each other that brings prices down? So the german dealer is making $18k more than a US dealer on the sale?

I didn't know you had Bose... :D

No. There is plenty of supply for the demand in the US. The idea is to manufacture and sell many cars. Since we are the biggest market, many German manufacturers have to be careful about the pricing so they don't price themselves out of the market. Since Audi, BMW and Mercedes are in strong competition against each other in the US, they are all producing similar models that are also priced very similar. There is no shortage of any models from any manufacturer, so there are no inflated prices as your law of supply vs demand would dictate. :D

Now, at least the last time I heard, Porsche for example, costs relatively the same price in Euro as it does in Dollars here in the US. Why? Because once again, we are used to certain prices and are more or less OK with them as witnessed by the relatively brisk sales of German cars here in the US. Not that the prices are not going up almost every year and with every new model! If any of the German manufacturers decided to increase prices that would reflect the Dollar to Euro conversion and charge the same, they would quickly price themselves out of the market. All the car manufacturers essentially "hedge" against the dollar fluctuations with various financial strategies and tools and that's why many have factories around the world, including the US for models that sell the most as this also helps keep the cost down and profits up.

That is also the reason that BMW and others are in a big hurry to build factories over in China so they can supply their demand and their best selling models and keep prices competitive.

The only car where your model works is Ferrari. There is demand but Ferrari keeps supply in check. There is always 1 Ferrari less than there is actual demand for. :D That's why you see people paying $40k over just to get a "new" Ferrari with a few hundred miles on it ;) since Ferrari NA does not allow dealers to charge over sticker.

I don't know what the profit margins are in Europe for dealers. I know the profit margins here in the US have been shrinking for our dealers.

:laughin:

By the way, don't feel bad for Porsche having to sell their cars at a discounted price to us Americans. The 911 Turbo is a 75% profit car for the company. That is a $150k car here on the average. :D 5% profit is considered "good" in the industry!

12 most profitable cars - 1. Ford F-150 (1) - CNNMoney

Those prices are crazy. Seems like you could buy them from a dealer in the States and have them shipped to you for less than that! Of course I don't know what import fees, etc... would be charged either.

There are a lot of things being shipped out to Europe. I have an acquaintance who specializes in 993 and earlier body style Porsches. Most of them are being bought up and shipped over by the Germans back to Germany with the Euro vs Dollar exchange rates. :D

I got a quotation in Germany for TAD & speaker stands at the EURO 37,000 mark. (34k for the speakers and 3k for the stands). In Europe you must not forget the VAT (approx 20%) which is the government's stake in everything bought/sold.

Cheapest price I found in Europe is in Spain EUR 33,200.

Road Trip... ;)

Isn't that still about $49K US? :scratch2: plus VAT?

In Spain 33200 euros = 43973.4000 US dollars, still not cheap. :(

Only here can you drop $40K on stand mount speakers, and be told "What a Bargain" :lmao:

:banana:

:music::music::music:

Regarding cars the price difference could eventually be explained by taxes.

In many European markets specific (high) taxes apply over VAT, on cars, based on power, emissions, engine size, etc. Even within Europe cars have completely different price from country to country.

Joe... When will yours be arriving (CR1's)?

I knew I should have stayed in Canada :tears:.
I pay about 100000 euros in "social security taxes" each year here in France, a tax which simply does not exist in the US and Canada !
I could buy a pair of Alexandria each year there....:D

Wow, that is serious taxation! :sigh:

Yes ! And still our debt is at records level ! I wonder where all this money go :scratch2:
Maybe that some important public employees buy themselves Alexandrias each year....:lmao:

I can say the same thing about us. Trust me, when I write the check for taxes, it makes me physically ill!

Your fingers shake ? :D

I hope to seem them next month. I'm still waiting for an update on delivery. :drool:

Me too Serge.
But then again, mostly those of us who have to pay a lot of taxes still have a decent income...

Free heath care... free schools... job security... unemployment subsidy... lots of jobs in the government... :scratch2:

That's why I use a Signature Stamp. :p

http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/drool...8-15/santa.jpg

I have this one in mind... :D

http://geekmontage.com/wp-content/up...-stamp-lol.jpg

Joost,

You need an Asian trip to stock up! (not on cars though!)

howie

I'll be in Thailand in 2wks. Looks like I will need to bring some extra suitcases :)

Like this model...

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SRbgvxJ6Lk...g+suitcase.jpg

:laughin:

That one is perfect, I could probably squeeze 4 of them in there :thumbsup:

This is too funny.... :D
Joost,
you can even bring back Wilson Sashas with this one !

Alright... I am taking orders... who wants what??? :D

You will forget about speakers when you get into Bangkok! :naughty: