Recently, we featured a road test of the new Audi S5, and the process of writing it gave me an excuse to engage in an underrated pastime: playing with car configurators.
All in the name of research, you understand. Not time-wasting. Not at all.
The thing with cars like the S5 is that you don’t just have to restrict yourself to the pedestrian UK version; you can indulge in the much fuller-featured German one.
Who needs Duolingo when audi.de can teach you useful words like ‘Außengeräuschdämmung’ and ‘Kopfstützenlautsprecher’? Once you can make sense of the endless compound words, what’s striking is how much more choice of options and customisation buyers get on the mainland.
Mercedes-Benz is probably an even better example of this than Audi. Take the C-Class. Over here, you get a handful of trim levels (mostly AMG Lines of some description), you can choose a paint colour and an interior colour and that’s it.
In Germany, if you want a C180 that looks like poverty spec on the outside but has every conceivable option inside, with brown nappa leather and adaptive dampers? Good luck trying to resell it later, but it’s your depreciation: go for it.
It’s the same at BMW, which won’t sell you a diesel 5 Series at all in the UK but still offers a 540d (with a straight six) in Germany. This isn’t a new development. Choice has been restricted in the UK for years.
I’ve been told this is largely due to the UK market being driven very strongly by monthly rates and therefore residual values. As such, it’s easier to determine (and maximise) the values for a couple of select trim levels and a handful of option packs rather than a million different individual configurations.
Although there may be some chicken or egg going on here, British buyers generally seem to be more cautious and fashion-driven than European buyers, gravitating towards restrained interior colours but big wheels and some sort of sporty exterior styling.
Complain all you want that cars are getting too expensive: posh trims are what people are buying, even on Dacias.
There’s also clearly more of a trend to buy cars from stock here rather than custom order, which shows in the size of dealerships: they tend to be a lot bigger.
Join the debate
Add your comment
Unless you are very wealthy and can afford a bespoke car like a Porsche or Bentley the options on manufacturers configurator now too often lead you down a rabbit hole. I remember spec'ing the earlier generation BMW Minis when there were do many options that the possible combinations on even the Cooper went into the millions. You really did get a choice to meet your exact wishes. The downside was waiting for delivery you continued to ponder whether you had ticked (or not ticked) all the right boxes. Nowadays you are forced to chose packs of bundled extras of which you may only want one or two and to make matters worse some of these packs may only be available on the top line models. If you persevere when you then go to Save the configurator will then tell you that certain combinations are not available/compatible - often for illogical reasons such as the colour of paint that you have chosen. I think it is probably called up-selling designed to part more money from you. The Germans are the worst villains and when you tot up the cost of options you realise how expensive these cars can be compared not just with the Chinese brands but those from Korea and Japan who I guess because of the time it takes to ship vehicles from their factories that it is easier to build well specified cars with very limited options. Tesla though take this approach to the extreme by offering buyers no alternatives other than colour and wheels. WLTP testing has of course given manufacturers the excuse to limit choice. All rather sad.
Oh my! I've always Played (worked very seriously) on the UK configurators but given up quickly! But now you've opened my eyes!
In germany a GLC Coupe 450d!! On my goodness!