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Is BMW a luxury car in Germany?

11K views 70 replies 44 participants last post by  HugH  
#1 ·
Saw a movie this weekend with a alot of shots taken in Germany. Not sure if it was the intention of the director, there were some BMWs on the road all the time in almost every road shot. It is very much like seeing a Chrysler/Ford/GM in the here. Is the equivalence of BMW in Germany like a Buick (or Lincoln?) in the States? For the same amount of money to buy a 3er in Germany, what kind of other cars can a German buy? I am wondering probably a G35 would be more expensive in Germany than 330ci?
 
#3 ·
yamato said:
Saw a movie this weekend with a alot of shots taken in Germany. Not sure if it was the intention of the director, there were some BMWs on the road all the time in almost every road shot. It is very much like seeing a Chrysler/Ford/GM in the here. Is the equivalence of BMW in Germany like a Buick (or Lincoln?) in the States? For the same amount of money to buy a 3er in Germany, what kind of other cars can a German buy? I am wondering probably a G35 would be more expensive in Germany than 330ci?
Yeah, a BMW is a luxury car over here. However, there are a TON of them here. Oddly enough, Germans make less on average (not counting their OUTRAGEOUS income tax)than Americans AND a BMW costs more over here than in the USA. When I was looking to buy my 330ci, I did some searching around. I bought mine through a military sales program, but I wanted to get an idea what the Germans were paying.

A stock 330ci (NO OPTIONS) costs 37,000 EUROS at a german dealer. That's over 47,000 US Dollars. I asked my father-in-law about this (He's German) and he said that most Germans that drive a BMW either buy a used BMW or it's a company car. Most are company cars that you see out there on the autobahn.
 
#6 ·
Yes, BMW is a luxury car in Germany and they are not cheap. Since we get most of the stuff a la Carte, unlike the US spec cars, we are paying a lot more than in the USA.

Here's an example of how much a 'loaded' 6-speed manual 330ci would cost in Germany in USD - exchange rate $1.29/Euro (including 16% sales tax)

330ci : $ 47,859
Metallic paint : $ 864
68M wheels : $ 774
(Steptronic)* : $2580
(SMG)* : $1870
Auto A/C : $ 680
Lumbar support : $ 350
Rain sensing wipers : $140
Sunroof : $1225
Montana Leather incl. heated seats : $2440
Navigation incl. Bluetooth : $4735
HK Sound : $995
Bi-Xenon incl. headlight washers : $1020
PDC : $516
Sport Suspension : $167
Auto dimming rear view mirror : $206

Total : $61.971

*SMG / Steptronic is not included in the calculation.


:eek:
 
#57 ·
Yes, BMW is a luxury car in Germany and they are not cheap. Since we get most of the stuff a la Carte, unlike the US spec cars, we are paying a lot more than in the USA.

Here's an example of how much a 'loaded' 6-speed manual 330ci would cost in Germany in USD - exchange rate $1.29/Euro (including 16% sales tax)

330ci : $ 47,859
Metallic paint : $ 864
68M wheels : $ 774
(Steptronic)* : $2580
(SMG)* : $1870
Auto A/C : $ 680
Lumbar support : $ 350
Rain sensing wipers : $140
Sunroof : $1225
Montana Leather incl. heated seats : $2440
Navigation incl. Bluetooth : $4735
HK Sound : $995
Bi-Xenon incl. headlight washers : $1020
PDC : $516
Sport Suspension : $167
Auto dimming rear view mirror : $206

Total : $61.971

*SMG / Steptronic is not included in the calculation.

:eek:
Do those prices include German VAT? Most European countries have a fairly high VAT and other taxes which are included in the advertised price of the car. For example, Norway's VAT is 25%. We also have taxes in addition to the VAT based on engine size, car weight and CO2 emissions. BTW - A base 330i here lists for 703,800 Norwegian Kroner which is over $100,000 ($1 = 6.40 NoK). Another reason I'm driving a 318i :confused: .

- Erik
 
#8 · (Edited)
Its probably like here where many Americans make the stretch to get into a BMW and get close to bare-bones 325's for $30K ballpark just so they can say they have a Bimmer.

When you're only paying 5 or 6 thousand more than an well-equiped Accord you will see tons of them around. Here in the Phoenix area I see as many 325's as I do Honda Civics.
 
#10 ·
Thanks for throwing

BahnBaum said:
:confused:

Maybe they pay the extra money for the engineering and driving experience, not just so they can say they have a bimmer.

Alex
that in, Alex. Sheesh.

Scott
 
#11 ·
Interesting, but not really fair to use US dollars due to the exchange rate. That is unless the average income went down in the EU at the same rate the value of the US dollar declined. :dunno:

--SONET

Alex Baumann said:
Yes, BMW is a luxury car in Germany and they are not cheap. Since we get most of the stuff a la Carte, unlike the US spec cars, we are paying a lot more than in the USA.

Here's an example of how much a 'loaded' 6-speed manual 330ci would cost in Germany in USD - exchange rate $1.29/Euro (including 16% sales tax)

330ci : $ 47,859
Metallic paint : $ 864
68M wheels : $ 774
(Steptronic)* : $2580
(SMG)* : $1870
Auto A/C : $ 680
Lumbar support : $ 350
Rain sensing wipers : $140
Sunroof : $1225
Montana Leather incl. heated seats : $2440
Navigation incl. Bluetooth : $4735
HK Sound : $995
Bi-Xenon incl. headlight washers : $1020
PDC : $516
Sport Suspension : $167
Auto dimming rear view mirror : $206

Total : $61.971

*SMG / Steptronic is not included in the calculation.

:eek:
 
#12 ·
SONET said:
Interesting, but not really fair to use US dollars due to the exchange rate. That is unless the average income went down in the EU at the same rate the value of the US dollar declined. :dunno:

--SONET
I agree with Sonet, not fair to use the current exchage rate... but even when it was 1 to 1 BMWs cost more in Germany than US. We should consider ourselves lucky that US prices haven't been jacke dup more in response to the weak dollar.
 
#13 ·
xspeedy said:
If they are luxury cars, then why are they cabs? Why not Opels or something that is the Euro equivalent of a Cheverolet Lumina?
Actually, the cabs (Taxi) are mostly Mercedes Benz. And thatz due to the special incentives MBZ has. All the yellow cabs are actually special rip-apart paint that has a different color underneath (for purpose of resale after the lease).

beewang :bigpimp:
 
#15 · (Edited)
avalys said:
Yeah, but the exchange rate is so crappy now (from our point of view) that that isn't really a fair comparison.
Then how about this? Someone making the average salary would need to devote about a third of their disposable income to buy and run a 318i built with the options Americans take for granted. As Alex wrote, BMWs are expensive here.
 
#68 · (Edited)
Does a bigger engine make the same car a luxury car? 316 or 330 they look the same from outside. a BMW 6 and 7 may be luxury cars, but a 3 not i think. But they are way better build than a Opel vectra or Ford Mondeo.

I drive a 316i it costed me about 60.000 USD, of course a 330 would have been more fun, but in dayli drive 316 gets me around, and has lower fuel consumption. And i would never have the money for a 330... sadly
My dream is a 335 coupe. But i will never get a chance to owe one.
 
#17 ·
yamato said:
Saw a movie this weekend with a alot of shots taken in Germany. Not sure if it was the intention of the director, there were some BMWs on the road all the time in almost every road shot. It is very much like seeing a Chrysler/Ford/GM in the here. Is the equivalence of BMW in Germany like a Buick (or Lincoln?) in the States? For the same amount of money to buy a 3er in Germany, what kind of other cars can a German buy? I am wondering probably a G35 would be more expensive in Germany than 330ci?
No such thing as a G35 in Germany - no such thing as Infiniti, for that matter, anywhere outside North America. The G35 is made only for that market. We do get the 350Z, though.
 
#18 ·
I don't know why it shouldn't be fair to use the exchange rates.

I've just tried to demonstrate how much money I would have to pay to buy this particular 330Ci in Germany as of February 13, 2005.

If a US citizen were to move to Germany today and buy the above spec'd 330Ci (no military sales), this would be the amount of USD he/she would have to bring along. Of course there's still a 6-12% sales allowance, if you are good at bargaining.
 
#22 ·
KingLemmiwinks said:
I know that German companies don't have to pay income tax on revenues that come from sales outside of German. This probably helps BMW sell the cars cheaper here in the US.

Does anyone know if this still holds true for sales outside of German but still in the EU?
OTOH, German Companies w/ subs in US MUST pay income tax to US and to the state they are based at (of course, unless the state does not collect income tax).
This pretty much wipes out your argument on tax savings.

The real reason behind the pricing dicotomy is primarily due to "what economist refer to as "Market segmentation". You know the same term used by media and politicians as "DUMPING". :rolleyes:

Now, I don't want to get into a discussion of "how is BMW dumping cars into US?". They are not, and neither are memory chip makers in SE Asia, nor are the Shirimp Fishermens in Chile. It is a market segmentation that occurs under normal competitive market. And it benefits all consumers like you and I.

beewang :bigpimp:
 
#23 ·
avalys said:
Yeah, but the exchange rate is so crappy now (from our point of view) that that isn't really a fair comparison.
even if the exchange rate was 1:1, the price of 37,000 US Dollars for a stock, no option 330ci is higher than what we pay in the US.
 
#24 ·
SONET said:
Interesting, but not really fair to use US dollars due to the exchange rate. That is unless the average income went down in the EU at the same rate the value of the US dollar declined. :dunno:

--SONET
Actually, Germans on average make FAR LESS than Americans. So, even if you don't take into account the exchange rate they pay outrageous prices for a new BMW. Also take into account that it cost about 1000.00 euros to get your liscense and their gas prices are through the roof (1.09 euros per litre. 3.6 litres per gallon)

Sometimes I am surprised that they can afford to drive at all. Then again, as my father in law says, many cars are actually company cars.
 
#25 ·
Alex Baumann said:
I don't know why it shouldn't be fair to use the exchange rates.
The best bet is to use a time-based average. The problem is, how do you agree on the time elapsed? Even over one year (which is plenty enough for BMW USA to have adjusted its pricing) the rate would be quite a bit more than 1 dollar per euro. So even on this basis, it is quite fair to highlight the US pricing as considerably lower than the German pricing.

Some economists argue that this "big mac test" should not apply, even if the product is mostly identical, and that the cost of the car as a proportion of disposable income should be used as a test of affordability. On this basis, the generally higher incomes and low taxes paid by US residents gives them a further advantage, over every other nation in fact, not just Germany. So, from now on, no whinging about the price of BMWs in the US please :).
 
#26 ·
gene2598 said:
Actually, Germans on average make FAR LESS than Americans. So, even if you don't take into account the exchange rate they pay outrageous prices for a new BMW. Also take into account that it cost about 1000.00 euros to get your liscense and their gas prices are through the roof (1.09 euros per litre. 3.6 litres per gallon)

Sometimes I am surprised that they can afford to drive at all. Then again, as my father in law says, many cars are actually company cars.
Another thing to remember is that lots of European families only have ONE car, not two or three or more. If my family only had one car, I'd be able to have a damn nice car. Of course, there's no public transportation to speak of to take up the slack here.