[RWebb]

milt - the problem is that any small manf. can get wiped out that way. if they build a small 'miatamobile' then any of the Japanese companies can copy it and undercut the prices by a huge amount - the economies of scale are just not there (P AG has no sedan to crib parts from).

I assume that is why they have always stayed away from the lower end (for them) of the market. IF you think about it, everything P AG makes just fits into the region between exotics (e.g. Fcars) on one end, and the mass market sports cars on the other (with a small, tolerable degree of overlap).

This happens in many areas - saxophones and other musical instruments is one, and the sizes of rats in the desert is another. It is so common in ecology that hundreds of research papers were written on it, and it came to have its own name: Species packing. The claim is that about 30% overlap is usually tolerable; after that, you need to find a different price range or size range, etc.

Of course, MB has been moving down-market over the last 10-20 years or so. But, I think it would be harder for P AG to do it. Not that I don't wish for a small, light cheap spyder from them...