What you say is pretty much true, except I think you're a bit harsh on the BMWs - maybe you just saw some bad examples? But societal pressure for visible eviden

What you say is pretty much true, except I think you're a bit harsh on the BMWs - maybe you just saw some bad examples? But societal pressure for visible evidence of success being what it is, it doesn't really matter how good the Mazda 3 is - people will pay for the BMW. And to be fair, BMWs are really good cars. There's a premium but it's not a total rip-off. Ask a girl sometime whether she'd rather date a man who drives a BMW, or a Mazda 3. That's all the information you need right there.