dudi said:
I mean, it's not often someone turns on the BBC for a bit of help deciding whether to buy the Aston DB9 or buy another koenigsegg.
But don't you get it? That's why the show is a global success.
Bread and butter cars are different from one country to the next. Although popular cars are sold in many different countries the prices, specifications and even their names and styling is usually different. So a revue of the latest Mondeo is not very relevant to someone in Japan!
High-end cars are, more or less, the same all over the world. If someone in Dubai or Dudley wants to see a koenigsegg in action they can watch Top Good and see pretty much the same car that will be for sale in their country. Whether they are a potential buyer or just a car buff/nerd/child the program is still relevant to them.
This is one of the main reasons Top Gear has a global audience. Car makers know this which is why they get the best cars in the world to play with. Add the high production values Top Gear apply to all of their high-end car features and it's great global advertising for them. They'll get given massively expensive cars to thrash across countries, spin around on the beach or basically do what they want with. By contrast if Fifth Gear want to drive a new Ferrari they'll need to go to Maranello where they'll get a couple of laps around the track and if they're luck a pootle around the town!
It was very clever, and the fact that other car shows are hamstrung by advertising makes it very hard to copy.