[miiipilot]

Originally Posted by mkoesel

One reason would be to establish a proper hierarchical relationship among products with respect to their position in the lineup.

This

I feel this b/c when manufacturers stagger their performance hierarchical cars, the higher end outgoing model looks less appealing. So you underrate it as not to upstage their bigger older brother and hurt sales of the more expensive car.

I remember this in all the magazines when I was a kid reading about the Buick Grand National/GNX vs the corvette. The lunch box car killed its more sporty cousin.