BimmerFest BMW Forum banner

Is the new 3 series is losing US market share?

106K views 343 replies 46 participants last post by  bmw_or_audi 
#1 ·
According to the Sep. 2012 sales reports: BMW 3 series, Sep 2012 compare to Sep 2011, -16.8% and year to date -3.1%. The MB C class, Sep 2012 compare to Sep 2011, +14.7% and year to date +25.2%. The Audi A4, Sep 2012 compare to Sep 2011, +12.8% and year to date +6.9%.
For a car that is recently redesigned and considering that both the C-class and the A4 is at the end of their design cycles, the new 3 series should be be posting much better sales numbers.
 
#121 ·
The above only compared 4 models, the Lexus IS was not included. The Acura TL is also in this segment. Believe it or not, Buick Verano has done very well as a new entry, moving 4k to 5k units in the last months. Although not entirely a direct competitor, I think it had easily grabbed some market share from every entry above.
 
#123 ·
I very seriously doubt the Buick Verano a FWD version of the Chevy Cruse is stealing sales from the German sport sedans? And while the TL is in the same price range it's no more a competitor to these cars than the Buick Regal. It may attract a few in this price range but it's in no way a direct competitor to the 3 series and it's ilk.
 
#122 ·
My neighbor across the street who had a E46 330i, had gotten into an accident and totaled it. He came home with a brand new Infiniti G Sedan (non S).

I asked him why he jumped ship from BMW, he's the type that did all his own maintenance. He said they're too pricey for him, just thought I'd share since it seemed relevant to this thread...

I've seen the other threads about pricing historically being similar, yada yada yada. But truth be told, the car just came out, and a lot of the new ones on the lot are loaded up way above 45k+ range.

Chris
 
#124 ·
Considering most people lease, i was quoted 615 for an audi a4 and my 328 is currently 570. both same price no money down.

I was looking at the c350 about 5 years ago and they quoted me 795. i laughed all the way out the dealer lol.

Will be interesting to see what the real lease on a nicely equipped ats is.
 
#136 ·
Incorrect.

It was one of those "employee pricing for all" events.

As I said, I did not like the'13 CC or Vw reliability and also got plenty of rebates on the 3.
 
#152 ·
Cc is a looker. TL was one too up until '08 or so when the beak redesign came. Honda does not and has not made a car i would consider since the s2000.
 
#167 ·
Lots of good comments here with the exception of the comment of the E93 looking "tired and stale". I will put the looks of my 2013 red vert against the new sedan any time. That isnt meant to be a bash on the F30 as I do like the F30 and would happily have one if I needed a sedan. But I don't :)

The F30 is a change with the times and any kinks real or perceived will be worked out. The knocks against the four are being shortsighted. CAFE is here to stay. My favorite BMW still today was my first one, a 1979 320 which was a four cylinder.

Just wanted to say a lot of us E9x owners like the F30 as well, so no need to throw knocks at us or our "tired and stale" cars.
 
#168 ·
Lots of good comments here with the exception of the comment of the E93 looking "tired and stale". I will put the looks of my 2013 red vert against the new sedan any time. That isnt meant to be a bash on the F30 as I do like the F30 and would happily have one if I needed a sedan. But I don't :)

The F30 is a change with the times and any kinks real or perceived will be worked out. The knocks against the four are being shortsighhted. CAFE is here to stay. My favorite BMW still today was my first one, a 1979 320 which was a four cylinder.

Just wanted to say a lot of us E9x owners like the F30 as well, so no need to throw knocks at us or our "tired and stale" cars.
 
#170 · (Edited)
Just wanted to say a lot of us E9x owners like the F30 as well, so no need to throw knocks at us or our "tired and stale" cars.
Whether a car look good or not is subjective, but being "tired and stale" has some objectivity to it.

If a car has being the same look for very long, in the case of the E90, 8 years, AND there are so many of them you see the same look many times a day, yes it can be "tired and stale". I like the look of E90, but totally understand it when people say the above.

On the other hand, many people, even those who drive BMWs, when look at the F30, often mistaken it for the F10 5 series. I wouldn't call such look "refreshing and exciting" when your own enthusiasts cannot tell what it is, it lacks creativity when you simply shrink a 5 down to 3.

If look is the only measure, the "tired and stale" but refreshed C (and maybe even A4) win over the new F30, if for nothing else, the styling stands on its own.
 
#171 · (Edited)
I had a very interesting conversation with my CA yesterday. he called to make arrangements for delivery and for me to setup insurance etc. I asked him how well are the F30's selling. he said not as good as they thought, and here is the interesting part. He said he could probably move every 335i he could lay his hands on but the 328i there are plenty on the lots. He thought it maybe the fact that this is the first 4-cylinder 3-series in a while. He added most people are like you man, when they go with some of the options they don't see why not spend the extra 4k and go with the 335i. Thus they are very short on 335i on the lots and the allocation for them is hard to get.

After that conversation I think some of us have it dead on. BWM would be buyers will need to get over the 4-cylinder stigma and BMW has not done a great job with advertising the car. I mean I wonder how many buyers out there know the 4-cylinder is a lot more powerful than the N52 it replaces and super economical to boot. Add the fact that just a few options and a package takes the car north of 45K fast and there you have it.

As for the "tired and stall" comment for the E9x models that is total BS. The reason why it may seem this way is because they are everywhere. I mean where I live if I had one I would see myself coming and going every 15th car.
 
#172 · (Edited)
Any statement with a valid reason behind it, by definition cannot be a total BS. This is not an opinion, rather a statement of fact:)

The reason 335i is short in supply is likely because they don't build many. BMW needs the 328i to meet CAFE, this is rather a unique issue with BMW in this segment, they don't have non-luxury subsidiaries with economy models to help meeting CAFE.

The 4 bangers are well received by the C and A4 buyers. Maybe BMW drivers are more demanding, but I still say it is more a production issue. They cannot build too many, therefore they don't have enough to sell.
 
#205 ·
Never seen someone so mad that they got a 2011. It's so obvious the guy has to put down the F30 to make himself feel better about his purchase lol.
 
#225 ·
CAFE is about EPA ratings, not consumer actual experience numbers obviously.

Fact is EPA ratings between the N55 and N20 are strikingly close. There is a larger disparity between actual drivers results. But due to EPA rating, I doubt very much BMW would shuffle output on cars with ratings so similar.
 
#235 ·
Is the Bimmerfester community is using bad English? Yes, this has been true for many years, but it's been getting worse by the day. BTW, I am not being rude to Speakers of Other Languages. I have been teaching them for many years, and they work very hard to get the grammar right. It's usually the Native English Speakers who are too lazy and sloppy to follow the rules and respect their readers.
 
#238 · (Edited)


What's up? Long time no speak. Glad you're doing well while BMW crumbles to the ground, at the mercy of Mercedes Benz and their badass C Class, going to set sports enthusiasm on it's collective ear, going to drive the 3 Series to the wasteland of other automotive failures like the Corvair and the Edsel. It's a fight to the death, I tell you. The death.

BJ
 
#252 ·
for me its simple.

it is too big.
no diesel
no hybrid
no electric
its just a revision. nothing epic.
don't like the new "branding" of "classes".
 
#253 ·
That is a good personal opinion, but we have data that tells us that this is a predictable transition curve as evidenced by similar double-digit drops in sales for the first 9-12 months of the E90's life back in 2005 when it replaced the E46. Back then, the Sedan saw a blip upon it's introduction, then a downtrend. At the same time, the Coupe, Convertible, and Wagon's were decimated on anticipation of the new bodystyle.

The only other influences on F30 first three quarter sales vs. E90 first three quarter sales would be:

F30 XDrive models were not available until September (in 2005 they were launched simultaneously).

F30 inventory levels were abysmal prior to September (unsure of levels in 2005).

Mercedes Benz decided to take the C Class more seriously post-2005.

Audi has ramped up its design and advertising more seriously post-2005.

BJ
 
#258 ·
I know I changed my mind about buying a 3 series, despite it being a great car..

1) I dont like turbos as much as I tried to like them and the normally aspirated 6 cyl is not available anymore.

2) I am picky about build quality and I saw cars in 2 different dealer showrooms with loose plastic pieces.. it left me questioning build quality. Or that fact that one of the cars could not find my ipod after connecting through the USB port while another one did. These are showroom cars, btw.

3) My GF never lets me forget her BMW dealer horror story and it is seems to be general consensus that BMW dealers in general (not specific.. as I am sure there are very good ones out there) are the worst luxury car brand dealers in the US overall.

4) I don't mind paying for options, but I positively hate un-bundling of features and forced bundling as high price option packages, along with deliberate omissions of options... for instance while ventilated seats are not available on the 3, on the 5 they cost $2400 because you have to take a couple of features you do not need. Even their most direct competitor charges around $550 (MB).. and even Porsche charges around $800, so its not exactly like I am comparing it to a Kia here.. oh wait, even Kia offers cooled seats in a sedan and Suv costing way less that the 3 series..

5)Speaking of options, does anyone in their right mind buy a so called "luxury car" even entry level without a basic immobilizer alarm? (an alarm, albeit the fancy one is $400).. or how about simply a tint at the top of the windshield or lightly tinted windows befitting a luxury car brand... NO.. Ok, can I still give you money for this.. N0.. buy a 5 series.

6) Speaking of the 5 series.. test drove one of those too.. sitting still in a traffic jam, saw the right lane was clear, turned wheel, step on the gas.. count 1, 2, 3, 4.. then the car wakes up... if there was a car coming I would have been toast.. check out the dreaded 5 series throttle lag problem.. again this in a dealer car. and according to the salesperson, thats normal.. really dude?

7) So what exactly am i paying for...

a) precise steering and a sense of balance that many other cars lack but not significantly better than the best out there..
b) interior design that I like.. clean straight lines..

but neither of them would make me overlook everything else above.

As usual, those that own the new 3 series... obviously different things matter to you, but I suspect there are enough holdouts who would otherwise have bought a 3 series.
 
#259 ·
3) My GF never lets me forget her BMW dealer horror story and it is seems to be general consensus that BMW dealers in general (not specific.. as I am sure there are very good ones out there) are the worst luxury car brand dealers in the US overall.
Dunno about the worst part. Audi and MB are equally bad. Lexus is good (at least with respect to the test drive), but the car leaves a lot to be desired (heavy, no manual, poor gas mileage, and at this point, dated). Which dealers were you thinking were better?

5)Speaking of options, does anyone in their right mind buy a so called "luxury car" even entry level without a basic immobilizer alarm? (an alarm, albeit the fancy one is $400).. or how about simply a tint at the top of the windshield or lightly tinted windows befitting a luxury car brand... NO.. Ok, can I still give you money for this.. N0.. buy a 5 series.
I, for one, don't care about the alarm...those tend to go off unnecessarily and create embarrassing moments. The car does have an immobilizer.

And as far as I know, the tint at the top of the windshield is gone from several brands...it may be even gone from all of them. It's not there on the Audis or the MBs. (Can't speak for S-class/7 Series/A8 as I don't pay attention to those.)
 
#265 ·
i rather someone run away after hearing my alarm go off than trying to do something when they get in the car. Sure insnare will replace it but then you have to wait 2 months to get another one
 
#267 ·
Whether or not the 3 is actually losing market share, price relative to the competition is a factor.

I just priced an A4 with the absolute minimum options that would make me happy enough and it came out to $35,645 MSRP. The absolute most I would load it up to is $39,595, which would include things I don't even want. Things can be added gradually and at around $37.5K, I can configure an almost-perfect car.

The BMW build function is right now unavailable on their site. So based instead on carsdirect.com, even a no-liner with black duct tape window trim, but with leather, wood, and xenons cracks $40K. Now pick a line plus xenons, and you are in the $43.5-44K range.

Obviously, we are not talking about orders of magnitude of difference, but about a mere 11-12%. However, that is enough to be a factor.
 
#268 · (Edited)
Definitely a factor but not an overriding one. The power is significantly better than the A4. Looks are subjective, but the A4's interior doesn't wow...whereas the F30 does (at least for me). Also includes maintenance for 4 yr/50k vs Audi/MB which don't. I think the premium is justified.

There are areas where BMW could do better such as getting rid of the lines and supporting a more normal ordering process to allow a better choice of colors.
 
#278 ·
The only downside I see is the lack of a remote starter as w/ all BMW's and this is only because I live in New England.
Maybe BMW knows it's bad for the engine to warm it up at idle in the winter. I never do that.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top