[demosthenes]

Originally Posted by LEDZEP

I'm not sure I wholly agree with that. I'm sure the salesman heard that somewhere, but I remember hearing the same line from the Mercedes dealership a few years ago - "too many on the road, need to raise prices to keep them more exclusive and uphold the brand... etc, etc.". Meanwhile, MB is advertising like there is no tomorrow... so is BMW.

I think it all comes down to the dollar's value globally. BMW has taken some hard losses on the exchange rate vs. US pricing in the past year, and I think they are hedging with hefty increases this year.

+1