Archive for April, 2009

Subaru & Mini?

Monday, April 20th, 2009

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In a market that is seeing unprecedented declines in sales in all segments, across all product types, in all parts of the country, two marques defy the slump; Subaru and Mini.

At first blush, you might say to yourself, that makes sense both are smaller more fuel efficient cars, both are far from symbols of conspicuous consumption, both are relatively reasonably priced.  But there are tons of brands and models offering fuel efficiency, are reasonably priced and not symbols of conspicuous consumption.  This logic doesn’t explain why Subaru and Mini have dodged the recession.

I would submit that these companies have gone through the recession relatively unscathed because they have a loyal base of customers and brands that consumers understand clearly.  These brands enjoy an almost fanatical devotion by their customers and these customers are advocates for the brands to virtually every person who happens to ask and probably some who don’t.

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