[davidp]

Has this market reach saturation I wonder. The Nissan micra cabriolet was discounted earlier in the year due to poor sales, (mind you it is ugly). The much nicer Mitsubishi colt cabriolet has just been reduced by 3 grand to £10,000. Perhaps the market has been flooded by discounted Renault meganes (they're everywhere). I reckon the Eos is so much classier though, so will always find a maket. I wonder if there are any more hard top cabriolets due out?

 

[GOgg]

From reading some of the motoring press there seems to more soft tops promised than hard tops e.g. BMW and Audi.

 

[Hornet9]

I hear what you say, but why has BMW gone to great expense to develop the hard-top 3 series?

 

[Hornet9]

Oh, and don't forget the most popular 2 seater cabriolet. The Mazda MX-5 RC, also gone all hard-top.

 

[davidp]

Oh, and don't forget the most popular 2 seater cabriolet. The Mazda MX-5 RC, also gone all hard-top.

yes your right but they were mooted for some time before and we know that the 1 series is a soft top. The first popular hard top was the Peugeot 206CC (apart from the Mercedes, which is in a different class) the Peugeot took everyones fancy and all manufacturers started jumping in, some quicker than others.

I think the bubble has burst and the limitations of a hard top, squeaks, boot space, extra weight, cost, slower and not really a sports car has become apparent and the market has reached saturation.

that said the classier hard tops like the Merc, BMW, Mazda and Eos etc all behave like sports cars and the Eos and BMW has four seats of course, so will always find a market.

Don't get me wrong, I love the Eos and would have another but I just cant see any more new hard tops coming out for quite a while.

Just my two pence (cents), David

 

[cb391]

http://www.germancarblog.com/2007/11/vw-beetle-more-infos-about-rumored-next.html
http://www.worldcarfans.com/9071126.004/volkswagen-targets-toyota-with-4-new-platforms
http://www.htlounge.net/articles/45...ro-Concept-looks-almost-like-a-Volkswagen-Eos
I lifted the above links from another site. This may or may not answer any questions. I am not sure how many folding hardtops there are in Europe, but here we have Benz SL and SLK, Mazda MX-5(Miata), BMW 3-series, VW Eos, Pontiac G6, Chrysler Sebring, and Volvo C70. They don't all compete in the same pricing categories or marketing targets. If the Eos goes away, there may be something to replace it but whether it it a hard or soft top would be anyone's guess.

 

[neh321]

http://www.germancarblog.com/2007/11/vw-beetle-more-infos-about-rumored-next.html
http://www.worldcarfans.com/9071126.004/volkswagen-targets-toyota-with-4-new-platforms
http://www.htlounge.net/articles/45...ro-Concept-looks-almost-like-a-Volkswagen-Eos
I lifted the above links from another site. This may or may not answer any questions. I am not sure how many folding hardtops there are in Europe, but here we have Benz SL and SLK, Mazda MX-5(Miata), BMW 3-series, VW Eos, Pontiac G6, Chrysler Sebring, and Volvo C70. They don't all compete in the same pricing categories or marketing targets. If the Eos goes away, there may be something to replace it but whether it it a hard or soft top would be anyone's guess.

We don't get the American ones but get all the others plus a Peugeot, Renault, Vauxhall (Opel in Europe), Ford, Mitsubishi, Nissan etc etc! In fact just about every major manufacturer does one now (Audi have said they won't) so there's not many left to do one (Italians perhaps).

The question will arise when replacement time comes; will they replace the old CC with a new one or go back to a soft-top? My guess is they'll stick with the retractable hardtop.

Trouble is as always - someone has a good idea, it sells, everyone copies it, the market is flooded, no-one makes any money out of them any more, they all decide to pull out, there aren't any available any more, someone has the idea again and the whole cycle starts all over again!

VW have already said they are going to replace the Eos with a soft-top Golf in 2011/12. But they might have had a re-think by then!