I remember talking to them about it, and prices. They are well made bikes, but pretty pricey, 3, 4, 5000 dollars ---but I said to them, they would use it with the grandkids, and if kept in very good shape, it would hold its value well and they could easily sell it at probably 3/4 of the original price if in great shape--and its easy to keep a bike in great shape, so while yes it is for people who can afford the initial purchase, if you used it a bunch of years and then sold it, you'd at least end up with a reasonable cost per year , or thereabouts.
especially for europeans, the cost of not having / using a car in an urban setting and using something like this would easily tip the balance of figuring out the economics of buying one, combined with resale value.