The average transaction price for a new car in July was just under $49,000, according to Cox Automotive. So when someone talks about whether a car is “obtainable,” that’s usually the number that pops into my head, give or take a few thousand bucks. If the average buyer can afford 49 grand, then that feels like an attainable number, right?
The word “obtainable” can mean different things to different people, especially in the context of cars. Personally, I don’t think it’s attainable for me to drop nearly $50,000 on a depreciating asset like a car. But other people might have no qualms about dropping that kind of cash on a new luxury SUV, based on their financial situation.
I bring this up because Christian von Koenigsegg, the founder and CEO of—you guessed it—Koenigsegg, recently gave an interview to CarBuzz, speaking on the possibility of his brand turning to higher-volume, less expensive products. From the article:
[S]peaking to CarBuzz at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July, Christian suggested a more affordable Koenigsegg sports car wasn’t entirely off the table.
“The question is, should Koenigsegg be making a city car?” says Christian, before quickly pivoting to an interesting statement:
“We’ve been dabbling with the idea of maybe going up in volume, making simpler, more obtainable sports cars.”
This quote requires some important context. Koenigsegg sells some of the most expensive cars on the planet. The car in the top graphic, the CC850, starts at $3.65 million, according to Bloomberg. It also builds fewer than 100 cars per year.
So while Christian doesn’t elaborate on what he means by “going up in volume” or “obtainable,” I have a strong feeling he doesn’t mean he wants to build a Miata competitor (even though he himself owns an NA Miata, because he’s a Real One). Obtainable, in this case, probably means something under a million bucks. Obtainable for a few more ultra-wealthy people, but not for you or me. CarBuzz speculates the so-called obtainable Koenigsegg might fall into the same realm as cars like the McLaren Artura and the new Porsche 911 Turbo S, which makes sense.
If such a product is greenlit, it probably wouldn’t show up for a long time. From the interview:
Christian is very aware that you don’t scale car production a hundredfold overnight. In his own words, “We think we need to take it very much step by step, not to stumble.”
But that doesn’t mean a more affordable Koenigsegg is off the table entirely. “We’ll see. Maybe one day [we’ll do it],” says Christian.
CarBuzz seems to think that a cheaper Koenigsegg would likely use the company’s funky three-cylinder powerplant, which would make sense. The mill can make 600 horsepower on its own, or up to 1,700 horsepower when combined with the brand’s wild hybrid system. But considering no one wanted the three-cylinder in Koenigsegg’s other car, the Gemera, I’m not sure why buyers would feel differently in the “entry level” Koenigsegg. Customers have famously voiced their disdain for cars like the Ferrari 296, which uses a V6 in place of its predecessor’s V8.
That being said, if Koenigsegg announced a $700,000 three-cylinder supercar tomorrow, it’d sell out in minutes. That’s the power of having an elite brand cache. So long as the car also has the CC850’s wild simulated manual gearbox, I’d be on the list of buyers, too (if, in this theoretical wonderland, I also had a million to spend on a car).
Top graphic image: Koenigsegg
Support our mission of championing car culture by becoming an Official Autopian Member.
The post The Word ‘Obtainable’ Probably Means Something Different For Koenigsegg Than It Does For You appeared first on The Autopian.
