Is there no price limit for high end speed pedelecs ?

A while ago I got myself the Stromer ST3 Pinion. With a price of around 8700 euro before ‘discount’ I found this already painly expensive. I was long thinking to shave off 1200 euro by sticking to good old Shimano gears and a chain but the absolute maintenance free belt drive and Pinion gears are worth the extra money if you can afford it. Anyway, if I had been living in a good weather country like Spain I would probably not have gone for the Pinion because of the price. If money was no object and I would have traded in a car for the Stromer I could have gone really wild and spec’d it with ABS + front suspension to end up with a 10500 euro price tag or 9500 euro for front suspension only. Or I could have chosen the ST5 which goes for 12000 euro with front suspension but with a chain. It does have the super cool electronic Di2 shifters though. The ultimate sports speed pedelec according to Stromer. Even my dealer finds the ST5 too expensive but he told me he has customers that really want to get an ST5 regardless (?) of the high price. Looking at the bike parking at work I can see Stromers are popular but I don’t think I have seen an ST5 which is with its price tag a niche product. There are ST3s but not the Pinion version and also quite some ST2s with belt drive. The ST1 and ST2 models are in a more ‘normal’ price range in which other high end brands like Cannondale or Trek also sell speed pedelecs. Still expensive though, there is no such thing as a cheap new Stromer. I didn’t see a lot of need for price competition for the normal ST3 but then recently the Ellio came out with a price tag of around 7500 euro. Made in Belgium versus made in Switzerland. That left the ST3 Pinion and certainly the ST5 alone in their respective price league but now another Belgian brand came out with a direct competitor for the ST3 Pinion and a price of 9600 euro, the Aksa Supercommuter. Bigger wheels, battery made in Belgium, belt drive and Pinion gearbox and full suspension for the same price as the Stromer. If you want a luggage rack you need to pay 200 euro extra. A bit strange for a commuter bike. But maybe they want to give customers at least one opt out option. The Aksa is VAB bike of the year 2023 and beat the Stromer ST3 Pinion. Undoubtably a fabulous bike but more expensive than most of the Stromer range, seriously ? Luckily Stromer decided that their former ST5 flagship wasn’t exclusive and advanced enough so they thought up the ST7. This is the ST3 Pinion + ST5 combined in one bike. Pinion gearbox with electronic shifting taken to the next level, including shifting recommendations and gear indicators on the display. More powerful motor and bigger battery, abs and front suspension included, only almost 14000 euro. Not sold yet ? It comes in gold and platinum black colours …