Price is set by marketing and is based on their expectation of consumer demand. It doesn't have anything to do with the R&D cost or even the cost of production.

Where the R&D costs matter is in the decision to design and develop the car to begin with. If the car costs too much to develop relative to the projected sales then the project gets axed.

The costs of production matter when deciding whether to keep building the car. If the costs get too high they won't raise the price, they'll just stop making the car.

Sometimes the decision to continue selling something at a loss is made. Microsoft sold X-boxes at a huge loss to gain market share. Sometimes maintaining a "halo brand" to get people into the store is more important that making money.

So... the short answer to why the S costs as much as it does:

Because you'll pay it.

 

..but if it was too cheap.. i'm afraid more people would have the car.. one reason why I like the car in the first place is because most people don't know what an s2k is.. and that there's not too many of them..