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I got an email that Carrera of America is raising prices in a week. With the discontinuing of the Carrera vintage stockers and 57 Chevies, and the limited range of offerings, are they trying to bury this puppy?

It does seem stupid, doesn't it? But then we have observed the decision-making incompetence of Carrera as well as their heartlessness about employees, haven't we? Carrera is a big outfit, and it won't be long before the people who have made these dumb decisions will be out on their butts, replaced hopefully by competent people.

Do you find carrera cars a great value? usually analog cars are $32 or $35 where Scalextric are $40 something.
Digital car with lights are about $45 and a scalextric digital chip is $20 something on top of a analog car.

With Scaley lowering prices it does seem kind of odd, but I remember a number of dealers saying that there is not much of a profit margin on Carrera cars. :think: On further thought that probably won't help the dealers either.. And I can only remember 1 increase of about $2 per car in the last 10 -12 years.
Did the email give any new prices ?
Randy

I still think Carrera provides great value for money. I have found it surprising that they could remain profitable with their current prices. If this increase is what it takes to keep them in business then so be it. If the increase reduces their sales to such an extent that it is not worth their while to stay in this market then it says a lot about the state of our hobby.

Alwyn

Yeah, they had a great reputation around here until just before Christmas. I don't pay attention to the digital stuff at all, but before they lost their minds in Germany, it was a good buy, even with their scale problems. Run a bunch of them on the track together and you'll never see the out of scale stuff. Of course, they should have learned from Ninco's debacle that if you raise the price on something you already sell well, it becomes less worthwhile, whether quality degrades or not. Price vs. value is an equation that is fluid. Raise the price, value automatically suffers, regardless of quality. Capriciously make a valued and special employee unemployed just before Christmas without any stated cause- well, you can't buy back trust. Drop the entire product line that appeals to a customer nation, then raise the price on what's left- they should prepare to become a much smaller company, just like Ninco.

It will be interesting to see how Carrera restructures their prices. I race with three clubs and find that some of the closest racing is in a Carrera only class. One club runs Carrera GT cars with stock motors and either stock or Paul Guage Tires. One club runs with Stock Carrera DTMs with either stock or H&R 18K motor and either stock or Paul Guage Tires. The last club runs DTMs with Pirinah Motors with Sillies on some tracks and NSR or Slot It rubber on other tracks. All three clubs have great racing with these classes. The first club also has NASCAR and Vintage NASCAR and to be honest Carrera cars even with allowed modifications can not compete with either Scaleys or Monogram. As people from Carrera have stated, they make Toy Cars and not racecars. I hope that they are careful not to price their toys out of the market.

I thought the same thing Dave as Carrera and Pioneer tend to dominate vintage NASCAR at our tracks. The monograms have a 25k motor so with the right bit of tuning and the right amount of magnet they can be quite quick. They do tend to separate spectacularly and fly of the track.

Just a little help here so you guys can stop speculating what the prices will be. A non digital 1/32 car will now have a price tag of $36.00 the list price of that car is and has been for quite awhile $44.00. The new price of a digital car will be $54.00 list price of the car is $66.00. As you can see it is not a huge increase and maybe the dealers will be able to cover their shipping cost. You can still get the lower price if you go to the store where they can charge whatever they want.
Mike

Am I alone in thinking the value or 'worth' of a car depends on more than the cost? I have a few $32 Carrera cars partly because I was curious what you could get for that price, but I buy cars mainly for the model and livery. Since Scalextric is the only source for the Trans Am Javelin I bought them at prices between $42 and $54. In the world of Le Mans replicas from the 60's and 70's Fly is the primary source and I've paid upwards of $70 for some cars. I recently bought a Slot.It McLaren for $75 and have pre-ordered a CG Slotcars Shadow DN4 for $130.

I don't consider this $32 Carrera Porsche 917 to be a better value than


this $70 Fly Lola T70 - because they are different cars and I wanted both in my series.


It's good Carrera was able to offer slot cars for $32 to serve that segment of the market, but I wouldn't say those cars are a better value than a $75 Slot.It car.

Slothead

List on a 1/24 is 93.00 and new internet price is 75.00.
Mike

Thanks Mike.

Today is the last day to get Carrera cars at the current price level. MAP pricing goes into effect tomorrow. Analog cars are $36, D132 $49.99 and D124 go to $75.

Bruce