In BMW's Repackaged Z4, Less Is More - Wall Street Journal
BMW is putting less cereal in the box. One of the more thrilling chapters in package-goods history has been the recent move by merchandisers to downsize the products in the box, without changing the size of the box. A roll of Bounty paper towels now counts out as 48, down from 52. Buy Dial soap, Carnation Instant Breakfast, Skippy peanut butter and a slew of other products from ice cream to cereal, and you're now getting less product in the package, and for... Now to BMW's new Z4 2. 8i, which has two fewer cylinders than last year and less max horsepower (240 hp versus 255 hp), because the new base engine is a 2. 0-liter turbocharged four cylinder, replacing the previous, naturally aspirated 3. 0-liter... Throw in BMW's nutty nomenclature—the previous Z4 sDrive 3. 0i model had a 3. 0-liter engine in it, and the new 2. 8i displaces 2. 0 liters, so the model numbers mean exactly zip—and you have a case that, if not openly deceptive, is just a tiny... I mean, why not reset the nomenclature and call the car—with some historical precedent—the Z4 2. 0T. Because 2. 0 isn't as big a number as 2. 8. I'm an English major and even I know that. In the windowless marketing skunk works of Procter & Gamble and Unilever and BMW and Ford, psychologists are asking: How do we sell less for more. The BMW Z4, delivered, is $49,525, up $1,200 from 2011 but, the company notes, many options such as Bluetooth and floormats are now standard. Source: www.wsj.com
