While writing up the piece on Vossen’s VLE-1 wheels, I found an online price, but I didn’t mention it because it was absurd at $9,999 a pop or $39,996 for a set, and wanted to make sure it wasn’t a mistake.
I contacted Jav Azadi from Vossen Wheels and I asked him about the $40k price on one of their re-sellers, aftermarket alloy wheels company “Need4Speed Motorsports“. Here’s what he replied:
“We have not released official pricing yet. But last week we pre-released about 20 sets to our different dealers around the world and we have heard some of the sets are already on sale at ridiculously high prices. Maybe the $39,996 price will make for an interesting story.”
I guess it could make for an interesting story if you believe the old saying that goes something like, “All publicity is good publicity, as long as they spell your name right”.
This story slides into more comical territory after I emailed Need4Speed Motorsports (N4SM) where I explicitly stated in the header that this is a “Press inquiry from Carscoops.com” and that I’d like a confirmation on the price.
One of their reps replied that he’d like to get in contact to assist me with all my “automotive custom needs”.
So I reply: “Thanks for getting back. I know about the VLE-1 wheels (we reported on them with teaser pictures on two actual cars, an Infiniti and a Porsche), I was just inquiring about the price listed on your site”.
Maybe I’m missing something here, but isn’t it pretty clear that I’m asking about a price of a product not as a customer, but as a journalist?
Obviously not, because the rep answers: “I would feel more comfortable discussing pricing over the phone if you like. I would definitely give you a better price than $40,000.00 that you see in our website ;)”
We’ll leave the commentary about the price and everything else to you…
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