Traditionally, the most highly sought cars have been the "sports cars"

Question

Traditionally, the most highly sought cars have been the "sports cars" and similar two-door models. Nevertheless, Zincstone Motors has chosen to eliminate the last two-door models and produce only four-door models.

Which of the following would, if true, most help to explain Zincstone Motors' strategy?

A) Some of the most financially successful households are the two-income houses, a high percentage of which have kids.
B) As American consumers lose access to car manufacturers who produce two-door cars, and as two-door cars occupy smaller and smaller shares of the United States car market, American consumers will be more likely to buy four-door cars.
C) Many of Zincstone Motors models are exported and sold overseas, including in some countries like Japan, which import a significant number of cars into the United States.
D) After a spate of recent additional safety requirements, the cost of frame and doors of Zincstone Motors' standard two-door models are now three times as expensive as standard four-door frame and doors.
E) In almost every instance, Zincstone Motors models lead all comparable models of competitors in fuel efficiency and have lower average maintenance costs as well.

Source: Magoosh

AmoyV · Accepted Answer

Traditionally, the most highly sought cars have been the "sports cars" and similar two-door models. Nevertheless, Zincstone Motors has chosen to eliminate the last two-door models and produce only four-door models.

Which of the following would, if true, most help to explain Zincstone Motors' strategy?

A) Some of the most financially successful households are the two-income houses, a high percentage of which have kids. Key word here is "some". Now Z Motors would obviously not change its product line to cater to a small market.  
B) As American consumers lose access to car manufacturers who produce two-door cars, and as two-door cars occupy smaller and smaller shares of the United States car market, American consumers will be more likely to buy four-door cars. This is pure wishful thinking. This basically say that other car companies will follow Z motor's suit and change their product line. But why would they do that especially since it is known that sports cars and 2 door models work.  
C) Many of Zincstone Motors models are exported and sold overseas, including in some countries like Japan, which import a significant number of cars into the United states.  We do not know whether Japan will buy 4 door cars. Maybe they too like 2 door cars. 
D) Because of additional safety requirements, the frame and doors of Zincstone Motors' standard two-door models were three times as expensive as standard four-door frame and doors. Correct. This tells us that the cost of producing a sports car or 2 door car has increased prohibitively and hence, we conclude, it would be difficult for Z motors to make profits.  
E) In almost every instance, Zincstone Motors models lead all comparable models of competitors in fuel efficiency and have lower average maintenance costs as well. Yes. But why would they change their product mix in a way that will go against the market norm?

Konstantin1983 · Answer

I was confused between C and D. By the way what does C mean? "Import into the United States"? Does this mean that Japan sells cars back into USA or does it mean that Japan buys cars in USA? If the former then C could be correct. In order to eliminate competiton with its own product Zincstone Motors decided to sell cars that are not most-sought after. Confusing.

b9n920 · Answer

Hi  Harley1980

Would you please provide the OE. I have doubts about choice C and D. As  Konstantin  also mentioned, C has some ambiguity, and I am still not clear why D is better than B. D talks only tech issues and don't care about market demand at all.

Thanks

mvictor · Answer

in solve the paradox type of questions, we can use this magical formula:
because - correct answer choice - , A is true, while B stands.
A - manufacturing 4-doors cars
B - sports cars and 2-doors cars are very popular.

usually, solve paradox questions fall into one of the categories:
1. ineffective implementation of the plan;
2. alternative explanation;
3. improper comparison.

we clearly see that here we need an alternative explanation.
only answer choice D perfectly fits in here.

katelyntanglu · Answer

Why is B incorrect?

In my view, "the most highly sought cars have been the "sports cars" and similar two-door models" does not necessarily mean "most American consumers still have access to car manufacturers who produce two-door cars".

Choice B provides the new information that two-door cars occupy **smaller and smaller shares** of the United States car market, American consumers will be more likely to buy four-door cars.

And thus, Zincstone Motors has caught the insight and chosen to eliminate the last two-door models and produce only four-door models. However, B is not the correct choice although it seems reasonable to me

Can someone please shed more light on choice B?
Thanks..thanks...thanks......

Can someone please shed more light on choice B? Thanks..thanks...thanks......

arvind910619 · Answer

Hi experts ,

I have a doubt regarding this question 
Option B presents a reason for the Zincstone Motors to produce only 4 door cars.
Option D is also gives us reason why Zincstone Motors chose to produce only 4 door cars

Option B takes into account market forces whereas option D takes into account internal company dynamics .

Then Why option D is superior to option B

rishabhdxt · Answer

why option B is incorrect.

experts pls. help

Squib17 · Answer

Traditionally, the most highly sought cars have been the "sports cars" and similar two-door models. Nevertheless, Zincstone Motors has chosen to eliminate the last two-door models and produce only four-door models.
 
We need to find why Zincstone decided to stop making two-door models and produce only four-door models.

Which of the following would, if true, most help to explain Zincstone Motors' strategy?

A) Some of the most financially successful households are the two-income houses, a high percentage of which have kids.
 Even if these people have kids that does not mean they will necessarily buy a car and that also a four-door one!  ]

B) As American consumers lose access to car manufacturers who produce two-door cars, and as two-door cars occupy smaller and smaller shares of the United States car market, American consumers will be more likely to buy four-door cars.
 Another very tempting option but it is kind of out of scope. Do we know Zinctone manufactures only in US. It could be possible that it is an India manufacturers, where the demand for two-door models is still a lot! - Thus this is an out of scope option. ]

C) Many of Zincstone Motors models are exported and sold overseas, including in some countries like Japan, which import a significant number of cars into the United states.
 Out of Scope - We are not interested in knowing where does it export or import. We need to know the reason of stopping the two-door model. ]

D) Because of additional safety requirements, the frame and doors of Zincstone Motors' standard two-door models were three times as expensive as standard four-door frame and doors.
 This gives us a reason! We can infer that because of high-cost issues, Zincstone decided to stop making two-door models. ]

E) In almost every instance, Zincstone Motors models lead all comparable models of competitors in fuel efficiency and have lower average maintenance costs as well.
 Out of scope ]

darn · Answer

Hi  mikemcgarry 
Could you please clear my doubt.

option D, the OA says that: Because of additional safety requirements, the frame and doors of Zincstone Motors' standard two-door models were three times as expensive as standard four-door frame and doors.

My doubt is that we are assuming that both 2 door and 4 door models sell for the same price, the manufacturers could price the 2 door models considerably higher than the 4 door models to offset this extra cost.
The question stem also mentions that two-door models are highly sought after, so there is no reason to believe that the 2 door model cars will not sell.

I feel that options A and B are better than D, though I am aware that these options have their limitations.

mikemcgarry · Answer

Dear darn , I'm happy to respond.

I wrote this question, and then my friend Chris Lele edited it, so I put the updated version above--just choice (D) was modified slightly. There are a few problems in your reasoning. The prompt begins " Traditionally , the most highly sought cars have been the "sports cars" and similar two-door models . . . ." That first word is an important context word that you need to understand. When something is said to be true " traditionally ," that's often code for " it's not true any more !" If something has been true and continues to be true, there would be no reason to use that word. Thus, we cannot naively assume that two-door cars automatically will sell. Second, (D) says " the cost of frame and doors " tripled. Do you understand what the " frame " of a car is? These and the doors are major components of a car, so if these costs triples, the cost of the car might nearly triple. I don't know how well you understand the Law of Supply and Demand , but there are very very few large items that would still sell if their price tripled. There are a number of problems with your arguments against (D). Both (A) & (B) are well designed traps. Both are legitimate reasons why " Zincstone Motors " might reduce the number of two-door cars its produces, but neither would explain why this production would be absolutely halted. Does all this make sense? Mike

darn · Answer

Hi mikemcgarry Thank you for your response

I totally neglected the word 'traditionally'. Thanks for helping me understand the relevance of that word. I went through the updated version of option D and I feel that now its much more obvious that D is the right answer. I do understand how supply and demand works but I am also aware that 2 door cars generally do sell for 3 times the cost of most 4 door cars. It is possible that one of the reasons for the difference in price is because, for safety purposes, the frame of the 2 door car is considerably more expensive to produce than that of 2 door cars. The cost has tripled 'now' compared to that of 4 door cars because of additional safety requirements makes much more sense in the current version of option D as compared to the previous version which could be interpreted as - the cost of production of 2 door cars has always been three times more expensive than that of 4 door cars because of the additional safety requirements of the frame.

aragonn · Answer

Official Explanation 
Argument: Even though Zincstone’s two-door cars have traditionally been their best seller, something has happened and now Zincstone is eliminating the two-door car altogether. The correct answer will provide a compelling reason for this sudden change.

(A) is essentially saying that in well-off families the man and the woman work and that these kinds of families are likely to have kids. All of this points to the fact that such families are likely not to buy two-door cars. But what about all the other kinds of families? They presumably might be in the market for the two-door car. Remember, we need some clear reason why Zincstone is eliminating its two-door car.

(B) seems to suggest that the demand for two-door cars is going up, since many people don’t have access to manufactures that sell these kind of cars. With supply decreased, demand should go up. True, the last part of the answer mentions that “tastes tend to shift” but we don’t know if this shift is enough to completely counteract the increased demand that should result from a smaller supply.

(C) fails to differentiate between two-door and four-door cars at Zincstone. The added tidbit about Japan just adds irrelevant information.

(D) provides a compelling reason Zincstone would suddenly discontinue its line of two-door cars: the costs of frame and doors have become much more expensive. This financial motive is a good reason for a company to take the drastic action of eliminating the car altogether.

(E), like (C), brings in irrelevant information and fails to even address two-door models.

gmatria760 · Answer

Zincstone Motors’s strategy : produce only four-door models

Premise 1) the most highly shought cars have been the sports cars & similar two-door models
We can infer that the most highly sought cars are also two-door models

This question type is explain the paradox

Prethink
In what situation the company no longer wish to produce 2 door cars?
-maybe no more demand
-costs outweighs the profits

A- no correlation can be inferred between the most highly financially successful households and Consumers of the cars. Therefore, out of scope (rich people may and may not be the most common consumers. Consider rich people who are financially successful but at the same time do not spend money.)
B- this is only limited to American market. Even though the market share of two-door cars has substantially decreased, the market share of other countries can still stay strong. ( Samsung’s market share in America has decreased, but it is still number one in Korea)
C- does not give any insights. Out of scope
D- bingo! In line with prethinking, if the cost of two-door cars has tripled, it can lead to significant increase in their selling price and lead to decrease in consumer demand. Or the company needs to decrease its profits to keep the consumer demand and may not be able to profit. The company might be better off to completely eliminate two-door cars
E- does not give any insights to why the company would choose to completely eliminate two door cars. Out of scope

I hope my explanation helps!

Posted from my mobile device

dcummins · Answer

Bit of an annoying question as we are told that the company serves an "affluent" customer base, but we aren't told anything about the profits made on the cars. For we know they may not make any profit on the two door cars.

MidhilaMohan · Answer

only D tells us that the cost of producing 2 door model is 3 times higher than 4 door ones.

ayuG · Answer

Hi Mike,

The question prompt states that two-door cars are the most sought after cars i.e. a large number of people want to buy them. From option D, we can infer that the price of the car will increase three times. Still, some people from the large pool of people after it might be able to afford it. So, why do Zincstone Motors have to halt production altogether ?

I think option B and D are tied.

itsarudolf · Answer

I think B is wrong because it limits everything to the American market, although it could be that America is a very small fraction of the total revenue earned by Zincstone.

Cheers

Prakruti_Patil · Answer

If option A said most instead of some, would that be the correct ans instead of option D?

Devarsh_07 · Answer

Option D. What my take on this is that option D includes safety regulations. If we read the passage carefully, it says 2 doors cars are usually sports cars. Hence the fact that they have increased the safety would most likely be because of a “sports car” and also that’s the only option where sports car interpretation kicks in. Hence D

Posted from my mobile device

Posted from my mobile device

Traditionally, the most highly sought cars have been the "sports cars"

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Traditionally, the most highly sought cars have been the "sports cars"

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