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August Sales

27K views 448 replies 47 participants last post by  windsor027 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
#4 ·
The first decent inventory of 2013 Sedans started to arrive to dealerships in the NYC area mid-August including the important AWD models for the first time.

The Coupe, Convertible, and Wagon are still in old bodystyles, in limbo they're situated between the new versions arrival and prior to their clearance pricing.

I'm surprised the 3 Series number is as high as it is.

Good job BMW.

BJ
 
#3 ·
Lexus RX: 8628
Lexus ES: 7557
MB C-Class: 6519
Infiniti G: 6261
BMW 3: 6206
MB E-Class: 4515
Acura TL: 3201
Audi A4: 3187
BMW 5: 1688
Audi A6: 1569
This is Audi's new model changeover period starting at the end of July when they close for a month. My local dealer had very little inventory on their lot.

I know my local BMW dealer was still closing out leftover 3 Series models.
 
#12 · (Edited)
What change would that be? Inventory of the new 3er has been piss-poor since its introduction in February. 2012 model years sales are completely unrepresentative; they don't even really count. Once production and distribution gets ramped up to normal BMW is not going to have any issue with 3er sales v their competition.

What percentage of the 3 Series has AWD sales been in the past?
In the northern parts of the U.S. xDrive is a very important component of their sales mix. I moved from Texas to Chicago recently and I'm constantly amazed at the number of xDrive models I see. Much more common than RWD models.
 
#6 ·
Think the numbers simply reflect lack of availability of the AWD sedans until essentially now...and there certainly won't be dealer inventory for another couple of months.
 
#22 ·
#42 ·
At the rate of 400,000 cars per year, there are approximately 2,800,000 E9X's out in the wild all with varying lease expiration dates. The XDrives have been for sale less than a week, there are no Coupes, no 'Verts, no Station Wagons. This is the expected transition period for BMW, happens every cycle.

The F30 is simply the best 3 Series BMW has ever produced.

BJ
 
#41 ·
C class was refreshed in the 2011 model year, and was already an established product. That has been two years and the model has now hit saturation (hence why you see it everywhere). The streets don't magically flood with new models when they are released, it takes time. When you add 50000 new vehicles to a pool of 250 million, it literally is just a drop in the bucket. You will see them soon, I am confident of that.
 
#39 ·
Dealerships frequently put cars on their website as part of "inventory" even though they are sold vehicles from custom orders. In many cases, I think this happens automatically as the interface to most dealers is identical besides branding. This is not a good indicator of actual inventory.

Second, XDrive is huge, especially in the North East. Believe it or not, but I was only the second custom order sport line 3 series bought from my dealership. One of the service guys commented on how much he liked the rims, and that he had not seen them before. X Drive is huge here, regardless of its true value.

Finally, all of these "personal" experiences about how many F30s you see on the road are just not valid indicators. Until we hit a true saturation, which is probably not until next year, you cannot draw conclusions based on what you see on the road. Every market is different. Low dealer inventory + low street spotting does not indicate a model failure, but a pipeline problem.

Go look at the data on BMWconfig.com, there are peaks and valleys all over the place with respect to the 3 series. Nothing to see here until we are at least two years into the model change over, and the rest of the line catches up.
 
#50 · (Edited)
Something doesn't jive here... if the idea of the Lines (restricting choices) was to streamline production then production (and thus lack of inventory) cannot be blamed for this 30%+ dip in sales.

Furthermore, to be in the F30 second model year and be talking about production/inventory problems does not make any business sense if we take into account that MY2012 was a short 5-6 months -and we are already 2-3 months into the MY2013. So if this is again a production issue then why this rush in cutting model years off to move to the next one if the production line is getting clogged somehow, somewhere?

For sure, no South Florida dealer is suffering this supposed production/inventory issue. All of them have plenty of F30 in their lots.

What about the simplest reason?... the sucker is priced like a 5-Series once you get it "nicely" equipped. :confused:
 
#71 ·
Here's my take on this. The overall luxury car market is quite stagnant so the big movements are simply due to share shifts. Over the last 6 months the big shift has been Lexus. The ES has gone from selling 2000-3000 cars to 7557 last month and the 3-series from ~9000 to 7557. The 5-series went from ~4000 to 1688 (not sure what is happening here - maybe a 1 month blip). Lexus was impacted by the tsunami so sales were depressed in the early part of the year.

I know most people out here don't cross-shop a Lexus and a BMW but there are probably enough people out there who do. The new ES seems to be selling very well and could be affecting BMW sales. Lexus is also now the luxury market leader after lagging for awhile.

August
Lexus: 24,237 (July: 18,235)
MB: 22,686 (July: 21,514)
BMW: 16,835 (July: 21,297)
Acura: 15,646
Cadillac: 14,704
Audi: 11,527
Infiniti: 11,155
 
#88 ·
Has anyone looked back at e90 sales and adjusted for market share changes?

I think it's hard for many BMW enthusiasts and fanbois to understand why the 3-series is not the ultimate driving machine, is overpriced, and doesn't appeal well to a broad spectra of folks due to that price and what you get for it. It may still sell well via lease offers (which artificially suppress the supposed value), but let's examine a few things.

A base 3-series is now a $43k car. I just went on BMW's website and simply selected modern line and they are starting me at $43k including destination. That includes premium package and a metallic color, but that's where BMW themselves are opting to "start" the 3-series. With a 4-cylinder.

Now if I want heated seats, fold down seats, and xenons, I'm at a $45k car.

A similar mercedes (a brand most folks consider slightly above BMW in pricing/prestige) prices out at $42.5k.

A superiorly built lexus is250 is $38k MSRP (nav, etc.)

A superiorly configured A4 is $40k (with all wheel drive)

...

Don't get me wrong, I'm a BMW enthusiast and my preference among those is hte 3-series, but if you were a superficial (read: normal) buyer scoping out the MSRPs and lease deals of each major top-tier sedan manufactuerer, are you really going to justify that price difference on the BASE model?

I could go on a bit
 
#92 ·
Has anyone looked back at e90 sales and adjusted for market share changes?

I think it's hard for many BMW enthusiasts and fanbois to understand why the 3-series is not the ultimate driving machine, is overpriced, and doesn't appeal well to a broad spectra of folks due to that price and what you get for it. It may still sell well via lease offers (which artificially suppress the supposed value), but let's examine a few things.

A base 3-series is now a $43k car. I just went on BMW's website and simply selected modern line and they are starting me at $43k including destination. That includes premium package and a metallic color, but that's where BMW themselves are opting to "start" the 3-series. With a 4-cylinder.

Now if I want heated seats, fold down seats, and xenons, I'm at a $45k car.

A similar mercedes (a brand most folks consider slightly above BMW in pricing/prestige) prices out at $42.5k.

A superiorly built lexus is250 is $38k MSRP (nav, etc.)

A superiorly configured A4 is $40k (with all wheel drive)

...

Don't get me wrong, I'm a BMW enthusiast and my preference among those is hte 3-series, but if you were a superficial (read: normal) buyer scoping out the MSRPs and lease deals of each major top-tier sedan manufactuerer, are you really going to justify that price difference on the BASE model?

I could go on a bit
You are not being fair. A Modern line ZPP is not a "base" 328i. There is a no line version with leatherette that is about $37.5K. That's a "base" 328i. Add leather and it's $39K. And yes, comparably equipped models from the competition are less but they are all older models and don't have BMW's warranty. Personally I'd rather have the BMW which suits my driving style than any of the others. The Infiniti G37 is faster and better equipped than an F30 328i but is a dinosaur these days. You are also forgetting about the great BMW lease rates due to the high residuals.
 
#89 ·
Considering most 3 series sales are the 328, maybe it's hurting sales if the 328 is now considerably more expensive than the E90 328.

It sure seems to me like they're getting prohibitively expensive. A 328 is like $10k more than an E46 325i was - buyers may not see the increased content, just the price.
 
#91 ·
Considering most 3 series sales are the 328, maybe it's hurting sales if the 328 is now considerably more expensive than the E90 328.

It sure seems to me like they're getting prohibitively expensive. A 328 is like $10k more than an E46 325i was - buyers may not see the increased content, just the price.
That's the funny thing as I compare it to my 2003 ZHP, 2006 330i and 2007 335i feature for feature the 2013 328i does seem to give me as much or more than my e46s and e90s. All for about the same price.

Guess my 44k MSRP 2003 ZHP must have seemed wildly extravagant at the time. My 2013 328i does everything on paper better than my 2003 and the prices were within about $300 of each other.
 
#97 ·
This thread is basically 5 or so people cheering for BMW to fail. Not worth discussing anymore.
 
#102 ·
I can't speak for others, but I am cheering for BMW to adjust their prices and ensure they keep the focus of their cars in the long run.

I'm a big fan of the n20 engine, but not with a car that dealers start stocking at 43k and runs up to $47-50k.

I'm a big fan of many of BMW's options....at half their price.

I'm cheering for BMW to go back to their well-done individualization system with ~3 core packages, instead of the lines program.

...

If low 3 sales help make those things happen, then yeah, I'll cheer it for now :)
 
#128 ·
I believe (rather strongly) that it is the "lines" concept where BMW screwed the pooch. If you want to sell somebody a BMW called "luxury line" and then ask $3,100 for premium package to get leather, moonroof and comfort access ... good luck with that.

Yes, I understand this and most of you on this board understand this, but my wife wouldn't. Actually, she couldn't care less for any of those items, but she would want heated seats for sure. And wouldn't be happy to pay extra for that on a BMW "luxury line". My wife worked in various dealerships for 20 years, she does understand concept of "options". But something called "BMW luxury line" leaves practically zero room for "options" - even for someone like her. Now think about somebody who doesn't know anything about cars, about car business and can't distinguish E92 from Accord coupe until they see the badge.

Things are not really different for "sport line". So, I buy a sport line and then need to add sport steering, proper suspension and proper tires as an option? Really? Again, I understand the concept (limit possible combinations and produce batches as much as possible for higher profit), but this time it might blow in their face.
 
#129 · (Edited)
Again, I understand the concept (limit possible combinations and produce batches as much as possible for higher profit), but this time it might blow in their face.
I disagree.

The Lines create a supply chain problem for cars on-the-lot and ready to buy as you're adding 3 variables where there used to be 0 but the prices of the cars have always been what they've been.

The wrinkles for consumers are things like "What? I can't get Saddle leather in a Sport line?" or "What? I can't get seats in a Luxury line?" are minor compromises. My F30 lease payment is $50 a month less than my E90 with virtually the identical invoice price and a boatload more features.

The issue isn't price. The issue is inventory. And, again, I must remind you that in the internet era there are no secrets about the new versions of the Coupe, Vert, and Station Wagon and anyone looking to buy one of those cars isn't going to jump the gun on a 7 year old bodystyle when the new bodystyle is right around the corner. Not enough F30 inventory on dealer lots, the other three models about to get new bodies, it's a predictable and tough transition, nothing more. All we see are TY vs. LY sales stats, we don't see what BMW's forecasts are. No right minded person would think that the 3 Series would be putting up good numbers against last year's record numbers in the midst of this transition.

BJ
 
#137 · (Edited)
Jon also said all of the 335i's are pre-sold at his dealership and he has been tied up delivering cars to customers as many of those pre-ordered cars are starting to show up.
 
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