Why so few 1 Series on Dealer Lots

I would really like to know the "official" reason why there are hardly any 1 Series Coupe or Convertible's on dealer lots. On my search before I had to "order" my 128i the average dealer in my area (LA CA) had only 1 or 2 convertibles or none at all. Why isn't BMW marketing this car? I did a google search and did not see any reviews at all of the 2011 version. Could it be that they are trying to draw down on dealer inventory as quickly as possible to shortly release a new updated body style? The 1 Series convertible just came into existance in the US in early 2009. There was never a 2010 model introduced, jumping directly to a 2011 designation. Is there a new version coming out early next year as a 2012? Let the conversation begin.

The 1er came out in 2004 so it is due in the near future for a replacement, although there haven't been any confirmed design/specs/info.

Dealers tend to stock more 3ers because it is more of a volume model, and thus, easier to sell. Secondly, BMW NA is encouraging more customer orders and thus, limiting allocations a little bit. Thirdly, your location might have a higher demand for cabriolets. In the Southeast, the coupés seem to be hard to fine. Plenty of cabriolets on the lots.

When I got my 128i about 3 weeks ago, my dealer (BMW North Scottsdale in Arizona) had 35 1-series in stock, all but one of them were 2011's and of those about 20 or so were convertible and 15 or so coupes. Of that, it was a pretty even split of 135's to 128's. Maybe they just sell very well in this area although I would expect the same in the LA area. There are 2 other BMW's dealers in the Phoenix area and their stock of 1's was noticeably smaller.

phxflyboy

The dealer I bought from usually has no ones on the lot. They occasionally get one in stock but then they sell it pretty quickly. I had to drive a bit to find some. The Hilton Head dealership had the most. They said they found they sold well. I wonder how much of the 1 sales are missed because the dealerships do not trust that they will sell them. Overall BMW sells about 10 3s for every 1 1 series. But if they had decent stock at the dealerships of the 1 series, would it be this way?

Jim

Newsflash: dealers have little say in what they stock. They get monthly allocations of cars from BMWNA based on what BMW decides the dealer needs and what BMW plans on producing in each month. While they can refuse cars that they don't want, it is pretty difficult for them to get extra cars unless they can find another dealer to give them up.

The lack of 1-series inventory is a decision made by BMWNA. The 1-series is a very low volume car for BMWNA because they make very little profit on it. The manufacturing costs are very close to a 3-series, but at the lower price they have to charge they don't make much money. BMW can't afford the marketing support (advertising & financing/leasing support) that they would need in order to sell at higher volumes. They intentionally want to keep it as a niche car and put their emphasis on the 3-series, which is a much more profitable car for them.

I wanted to try a 135 Dual clutch today and the dealer didn't have one available. Showed the build sheets of product available.....but stated the dealer didn't stock 135 Dual clutch units..

Lost the sale...Nice looking car and I heard its a blast to drive.