Exactly. They're trying to find the maximum you'll pay. It's like when you click on "Enterprise" plan on a SAAS company - time for a sales rep to Google your company, see the nice share price and give you a "custom" quote.
Enterprise sales can be a long process because of the procurement process at the company. You can be looking at a 9 month to 3 year sales cycle, where a sales person is going to be involved the entire time answering questions, having security assessments completed, responding to quotes from other companies, etc.
You're going to have more conversations about special implementation requirements, integration with an obscure system, special support, training and compliance needs, etc.
For a long time I've believed that every company really needs 2 "enterprise" plans.
1. Standard Enterprise
- Yes we have SAML
- Yes you can have massive discounts on overages
- Yes you can get a copy of our SOC2 Type II if you sign an NDA.
Price: $X / [month,year]
2. Custom Enterprise
- We'll complete your custom security assessment document
- Discuss special options for training and support
Price: Contact Sales
It also doesn't help that every manufacturer has basically stopped selling their low-end small cars. No more Honda Fit. No more Ford Fiesta or Focus.
The thing is, I don't think that most people buying cars right now even 'need' them. So people like you who do need one are also getting screwed by that.
That's the entire point of these crappy business practices. At the end of the day, you paid. Thus they continue doing the same thing.
If you really wanted this to change, don't reward the bad business practices.
(Side note: This is a common topic on reddit /askcarsales. Honest dealers are basically forced to do some of these things. The shady dealers advertise lower prices, but lots of fees. So uninformed consumers show up at good dealer and say "Look ShadyDealer has this exact car for $5,000 less! GoodDealer tries to explain, consumer gets mad, etc. etc.)