Despite anecdotes to the contrary, there's a whole research literature within the specialty area of behavioral economics documenting that more choices can actually lower consumer satisfaction. This isn't always true. People don't like not having
any choices; but they're not necessarily happier -- and are sometimes unhappier -- when there are too many choices. The reason is, that with many choices, we become more aware of the things we're giving up with any one specific selection. I think that may apply here. We see the bright, 10-spoke wheels and we want them. But we see the equipment on the Sport model and we wish we had it. But we can't have both, at least not as a standard offering. We see the power rear window shades on the G80 and long for them. We see the lighter weight and better performance of the G70 relative to the G80 and don't want to give that up. But again, we can't have both. Our attention is directed more toward what we
wouldn't get on a particular car because we're aware that it's available elsewhere.
This is a tough battle for a car maker to win. If they offer virtually every feature on an
a la carte basis, the number of combinations of cars they'd be assembling is overwhelming. If they offer standard packages that bundle features together, people will wish for some of the features from bundle A combined with some of the features from bundle B, but not all of the features in either bundle. I'm in complete sympathy with that feeling. I, too, wish that exactly the combination of features I prefer was available as a standard bundle. But, alas, it isn't to be.
We can take the combination that gets us closest to our wishes and just suck it up. Or, we can go to the
aftermarket suppliers and get some of the goodies that don't come standard (easier for wheels than something like a HUD). Or we can look elsewhere entirely to see if some other company offers a better match to our wish list. I suspect all three of these possibilities will play out as we find out exactly what version of the G70 will be available in the US. I don't think we'll have much luck persuading Genesis, at this stage, to change direction and come up with different combinations of options. That may well happen in later model years if they perceive high enough -- and consistent enough -- demand for some alternative combinations. But I don't think we'll see anything like that in the short term.