Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Plus Four, Supersport & Plus Six (CX & CXV Generation Vehicles) Challenge Sophie

Well it will still be there now then won't it !

The owners of MMC seem to think that the Morgan Brand is, in some way special.
Possibly it is, but I do not think it is special enough to support the shift in market position that they expect.

I wish them luck, but I'm not that optimistic.
Perhaps there are enough people out there who will buy into the message that Sophie is trying to get across: time will tell.

Meanwhile I'll remember the past and the happy times we had with Tarka.

There was this one at London Morgan last time we visited...go on you know you want one

I can sort of see where Morgan is going. The current CX has gone up a few notches in regards to fit/finish and the cabin is by far the most 'luxurious' they have made to date. Back when I bought my 4/4 the term luxury wasn't something I associated the brand with but hand made and craftsmanship was there in spades.

With that said, I do sort of see where MMC is going. There is a huge desire within the luxury segment for personalisation and craftsmanship. If I look at Bentley, which I know very well, the customer base has craftsmanship, bespoke and handmade at the top of their wish list but above all that, it's the experience. The typical client has multiple cars and some with full collections. Many would argue that a Bentley is a glorified Porsche (GT/Flying Spur) or Audi (Bentayga) which couldn't be farther from the truth, and yet sales are very strong. It wasn't always like this and it took a massive shift from what was once viewed as a traditional Bentley to what we see today. I am certain the traditionalist didn't like nor purchase the 'new' Bentley but the brand would never have survived if it didn't change. Those who did moan were likely never going to buy a new car even if it was the traditional one they knew and loved.

I see a lot of parallels to what MMC is going through now. Porsche did this when they moved to people carriers, Hyundai when they launched Genesis etc.

The direction they are taking the brand image and their products look to be well organised and I can see what they are doing. IMHO the piece that is missing and needs to be addressed quickly is the experience side of things. Walk into a Porsche dealer and straight after a Morgan one. Sadly the brand image for MMC doesn't match that with the experience nor the brand positioning they are putting out there.

What is that? Not a gtr surely?

Make sure you Bealach Na Baa - the Pass of Cattle

Beautiful Sophie, beautiful scenery, beautiful Morgan. I like that video. Even if an outdoor girl like Sophie would probably drive an VW bus in real life.

Dave (SCX) mentioned it earlier.

https://www.challengesophie.com/blog/category/building-my-dream-custom-vw-campervan

She does! You got that right!

Yep Peter J you've got that right!

It's the current Morgan devotees in the main who you want to desire the latest evolution, finding it desirable enough to want to upgrade! This will release used Morgan's on to the market allowing the younger and more financially pressed (we've all been there, Kid's etc. are not cheap!) To dip there toes into the market and hopefully get the lifetime bug. It will also keep used prices realistic and build a progressive customer/owner base. At the moment, what with the huge price increase up to the CX platformed cars most casually interested potential buyers will see it as a ridiculous and unreasonable price hike! Because of this classics are not only holding good resale money but are now going up again. Yes they took a dip with the latest interest rate issues but are clearly rising again!
This will have a direct influence on those very people wishing to enter the market at an earlier age.
You might be thinking that those older owners are an ever decreasing market and yes they are without the next generation following up behind. Clearly within an age range, that has until recently been the trend with Morgan sales, but since the take-over, the Italian's clearly believe they can shift the brand into a different market altogether. IMHO they have priced the early age potential buyers into a much later buying position and so, will narrow their market to later life purchasers or those who buy garage candy and collectors!

I just can't understand why they couldn't understand their market and celebrate it, after all it has been in existence for a long time! A great part of it is the exclusivity of the car and the sense of owning and enjoying the same. So, this could be a pivotal moment for MMC, Either I'm totally wrong in my belief, and they are geniuses or they have made a fundamental marketing error!

You are absolutely correct. I was able to purchase my new 4/4 in 2003 as a 33-year-old craftsman who was not self-employed at the time. Of course I had to save the money over a longer period of time. At today's Plus Four prices, that would be unthinkable.