bikesnob gestern:
...they did nail it with regard to the typical car-branded road bike customer:
“At the higher end of the cycling market, cyclists tend to be car people — and watch people,” Mr. Lambiase said. “There’s appreciation of what I call art in motion: a psychological connection among cars and bikes and performance — beautiful and precise machinery.”
Translation: they're douchebags.
Furthermore, they're an incredibly specific type of douchebag:
For the right buyers, usually the affluent, Mr. Lambiase says, “it’s the aesthetic details, the paint job, the leather on the saddle, which makes them special.” He added, “They take these bikes seriously, and if they have the passion for the auto brand, they buy them.”
So in other words, these car companies are tapping the teeny, tiny douchebag cycling market that is willing to spend a gazillion dollars on a bike yet somehow still has no idea of the existence of the absurdly pretentious and expensive world of custom bicycles. So instead, they're actually buying crappy rebranded BMCs with suede handlebars...