In reply to a message from Heuer sent Tue 18 Mar 2014:
It’s obvious you’re a big fan of the throttle cable system,
David, and are disappointed that the e-type community has
‘failed to support it’.
In the end it is not the responsibility of the market to
support a product. It is the responsibility of the vendor to
effectively market it. So given that, lets look at the
throttle cable in the context of the 4P’s of Marketing (see
wikipedia for more details).
- Product - A product is seen as an item that satisfies what
a consumer demands.
The e-type throttle system is a Rube Goldberg contraption of
the first order. Lots of points of wear and adjustment. I
certainly see the potential value of an alternative, but many
others don’t.
- Price - The amount a customer pays for the product. When
setting a price, the marketer must be aware of the customer
perceived value for the product.
That last part is important. In the US (the largest market
for the e-type and hence the largest market for upgrades) the
throttle cable costs $870. That’s a lot of money in absolute
terms. That point about ‘‘perceived value’’ is critical though.
The expectations in the US for throttle cables & linkages from
Jegs or Summit Racing is that $100 is a premium price (for say
Lokar). So even adjusting for Jag-flation, $900 is a hefty
premium.
Plus, at $900 you are now competing with other ‘‘investments’’
like a Mig welder, a 2-stage compressor, a new hood/top, etc.
I’m sure exchange rates account for a lot of the price but
then again as a vendor you need to find a way to deliver your
product at the right price. Price is set at what people in
the market at willing to pay, not what the vendor wants to -
or must - charge.
Promotion - All of the methods of communication that a
marketer may use to provide information to different parties
about the product.
If it wasnt for your posts on Jag-Lovers and E-type, I don’t
think I would have ever heard of the throttle cables. Nuff’
said.
Place - Refers to providing the product at a place which is
convenient for consumers to access.
In the US (again the largest market) the cable is available
only from SNGB. But it is almost impossible to find on their
website (which has issues beyond the cable vendor’s control).
On Chrome, the search box on the home page is covered by links
for misc parts. If you can find just the right spot and click
you can get the insertion point into the search box. Enter
‘‘throttle cable’’ (seems logical, right?), press Return and
wah-lah…
There were no product items found that matched your search
criteria.
Well, damn. Turns out the search box requires you to know the
part number in advance. If you’re really determined, you can
eventually find the throttle cables. There are four listed
but good luck figuring out which if any will work with your
car (SU vs Stangleberg, LHD vs RHD, etc).
For a product to be successful, one must execute well on all
four P’s.
Note that I used my investment budget on EDIS. 
Jim–
The original message included these comments:
Your loss.
David
–
70 E-type OTS
–Posted using Jag-lovers JagFORUM [forums.jag-lovers.org]–
Search the archives & forums - http://search.jag-lovers.org/
Subscription changes - http://www.jag-lovers.com/cgi-bin/majordomo
Support Jag-lovers - Donate at http://www.jag-lovers.org/donate04.php