How fortunate, when one doesn't have all that much money. Try to imagine, in the luxury class range, a somewhat wealthier new-car buyer. He/she must allow themselves at least half a day, to gather information about the list of optional extras and have the various possibilities and combinations explained.

Have you ever, just for fun, rummaged through such a list? No, not because of the individual surcharges. Potential buyers probably wouldn't be worried by them but because afterwards, one may miss an urgently wanted, sinfully expensive extra, that would be very complicated to build in at a later date.

Now of course, you may argue that those who have enough money anyhow, should simply order everything. Well, that wouldn't work either, because some extras-packages exclude certain features, either that, or the fact that the extra prices, added together, may mean that the car price almost doubles. Believe me, most wealthy people aren't that generous either, in fact, some are said to be particularly stingy. The popular question asked is, how do you think they got so wealthy in the first place?

Ok, jokes aside, a close study of the list of optional extras cannot be avoided. To do this alone would also be difficult. One can only hope that in the high-price car showrooms, there are enough experienced sales people. They must be able to explain the environmental aids. Even better, is when they can demonstrate certain features, e.g., the virtual camera, which when reversing, renders a birds-eye view of the complete surroundings.

It's questionable whether a half a day will be enough. It would be better not to spend still more time with this, but to rather make a second visit. This is worthwhile, because then one brings a special aspect into the foreground, the individualisation. Those who can actually get to see it, can count themselves as being fortunate, because people who can just manage the financing of the basic model, are generally not offered these possibilities.

Should you, at this point, succumb to the salesperson's temptations, not only will it be a bit more expensive but the exponentially rising delivery times will also put a strain on you. It would make sense to put some other purchase on ice for a while. If you are then given the usual discount, perhaps even a bit more and if you opt for the elaborate events offered when fetching your car yourself, this is when the stage is set for the salesperson.

It's probably never crossed your mind before, indeed, think about the responsibility taken here. Just imagine, the salesperson clicks on the wrong place when choosing the various modules. In this case, it hardly makes any difference, whether or not one has had the entire list re-confirmed. Whoever signed the buying contract will be very annoyed if something different is delivered.

As the seller, it's not going to help you at all, that you've explained everything before the customer signs, and he/she is probably already thinking about their next appointment. For the dealers, annoyed customers can sometimes mean that the dealer has to carry unpleasant consequences. Very often, even a price reduction is not going to help. Taking the car back has the disadvantage, that one has to find another buyer, one who will take this very individualised car and if, then only at a much reduced price.

Admittedly, the industry does have solutions ready. One speaks of the so-called 4th Industrial Revolution, the follow-up to the steam engine, the production line and the introduction of robots. If one is to believe the production specialists, in future, the customer sitting in front of his/her computer, will do a lot more than simply the configuring of a car. He/she will shape and colour the desired component at home, this order will then go automatically to the finishing departments.