BMW dealers sob out for more five series
As the launch of the redesigned two thousand seventeen BMW five series ramps up, dealers have a common refrain: More cars!
“We just don’t have enough product,” said Jeff Dyke, executive vice president of operations for Sonic Automotive Inc. Supplies are “indeed, truly light. We need more.”
At the end of March, BMW had just two hundred unsold sedans in dealer inventory, said Ludwig Willisch, head of BMW Group Region Americas. The redesigned five series began arriving in dealerships in mid-February. Customers had preordered about Two,000.
“So it’s a scarce species,” Willisch said. “Was it indeed expected to be that low? I don’t think so, but it’s one of the nicer problems to have.”
Production and deliveries have ramped up since the end of March, a BMW spokesman said. Dealers on average should have a two- to three-week supply now during the launch.
Sonic’s fifteen BMW stores are the most of any retailer in the country, Dyke said, and have two hundred twenty four redesigned sedans, or around a 15-day supply, plus fifteen of the two thousand sixteen version. He said customers are excited about the car, which he praised. Sonic expects supplies to be much better in May.
Tim Kraemer, senior vice president at Carousel Motor Group in Minneapolis and chairman of the BMW National Dealer Forum, has heard from other dealers on the supply challenge. Forum members talked with BMW executives this month about inventories.
“We want to make sure everyone is watching and monitoring the correct balance, and I believe they are,” Kraemer said. The pipeline will be packed, but “they don’t want to oversupply it to where either one of us has to discount it or incentivize it to sell.”
Carousel’s BMW of Minnetonka has twelve of the cars, less than a 15-day supply, Kraemer said. It had about twenty seven preorders for the car, equivalent to about a month of 5-series sales for the dealership. BMW has provided good support for the car, including lease programs and a $Two,000 loyalty bonus to buyers who have wielded BMWs in the past, he said.
For the previous-generation version, incentives soared to an average of $11,005 per car in January, according to Autodata. The nameplate’s incentives fell in February and March as old vehicles were cleared out. The average incentive in March was $6,284. Dealers still have some old vehicles on their lots, but the nationwide supply was down to about one hundred vehicles by late April, the company said.
U.S. sales of the five series have dropped steadily since peaking at 56,863 in 2013. In 2016, BMW sold 32,408, down twenty seven percent from a year earlier. This year through March, the company sold 6,641 five series, down thirty two percent through the sell-down period.
Advertising support is ramping up. Sonic’s Dyke expects marketing activity to spike in May when more cars are available at dealerships.
BMW is spending about twenty percent more than is common for a launch on the two thousand seventeen Five series, said Trudy Hardy, vice president of marketing for BMW of North America, without providing a dollar figure.
The spend will be biased slightly more toward digital and data-based marketing vs. broadcast TV than is typical, she added. TV advertising kicked off in March and will be strong through the spring.
BMW dealers sob out for more five series
BMW dealers sob out for more five series
As the launch of the redesigned two thousand seventeen BMW five series ramps up, dealers have a common refrain: More cars!
“We just don’t have enough product,” said Jeff Dyke, executive vice president of operations for Sonic Automotive Inc. Supplies are “truly, indeed light. We need more.”
At the end of March, BMW had just two hundred unsold sedans in dealer inventory, said Ludwig Willisch, head of BMW Group Region Americas. The redesigned five series began arriving in dealerships in mid-February. Customers had preordered about Two,000.
“So it’s a scarce species,” Willisch said. “Was it indeed expected to be that low? I don’t think so, but it’s one of the nicer problems to have.”
Production and deliveries have ramped up since the end of March, a BMW spokesman said. Dealers on average should have a two- to three-week supply now during the launch.
Sonic’s fifteen BMW stores are the most of any retailer in the country, Dyke said, and have two hundred twenty four redesigned sedans, or around a 15-day supply, plus fifteen of the two thousand sixteen version. He said customers are excited about the car, which he praised. Sonic expects supplies to be much better in May.
Tim Kraemer, senior vice president at Carousel Motor Group in Minneapolis and chairman of the BMW National Dealer Forum, has heard from other dealers on the supply challenge. Forum members talked with BMW executives this month about inventories.
“We want to make sure everyone is watching and monitoring the correct balance, and I believe they are,” Kraemer said. The pipeline will be packed, but “they don’t want to oversupply it to where either one of us has to discount it or incentivize it to sell.”
Carousel’s BMW of Minnetonka has twelve of the cars, less than a 15-day supply, Kraemer said. It had about twenty seven preorders for the car, equivalent to about a month of 5-series sales for the dealership. BMW has provided good support for the car, including lease programs and a $Two,000 loyalty bonus to buyers who have possessed BMWs in the past, he said.
For the previous-generation version, incentives soared to an average of $11,005 per car in January, according to Autodata. The nameplate’s incentives fell in February and March as old vehicles were cleared out. The average incentive in March was $6,284. Dealers still have some old vehicles on their lots, but the nationwide supply was down to about one hundred vehicles by late April, the company said.
U.S. sales of the five series have dropped steadily since peaking at 56,863 in 2013. In 2016, BMW sold 32,408, down twenty seven percent from a year earlier. This year through March, the company sold 6,641 five series, down thirty two percent through the sell-down period.
Advertising support is ramping up. Sonic’s Dyke expects marketing activity to spike in May when more cars are available at dealerships.
BMW is spending about twenty percent more than is common for a launch on the two thousand seventeen Five series, said Trudy Hardy, vice president of marketing for BMW of North America, without providing a dollar figure.
The spend will be biased slightly more toward digital and data-based marketing vs. broadcast TV than is typical, she added. TV advertising kicked off in March and will be strong through the spring.
BMW dealers sob out for more five series
BMW dealers sob out for more five series
As the launch of the redesigned two thousand seventeen BMW five series ramps up, dealers have a common refrain: More cars!
“We just don’t have enough product,” said Jeff Dyke, executive vice president of operations for Sonic Automotive Inc. Supplies are “truly, truly light. We need more.”
At the end of March, BMW had just two hundred unsold sedans in dealer inventory, said Ludwig Willisch, head of BMW Group Region Americas. The redesigned five series began arriving in dealerships in mid-February. Customers had preordered about Two,000.
“So it’s a scarce species,” Willisch said. “Was it truly expected to be that low? I don’t think so, but it’s one of the nicer problems to have.”
Production and deliveries have ramped up since the end of March, a BMW spokesman said. Dealers on average should have a two- to three-week supply now during the launch.
Sonic’s fifteen BMW stores are the most of any retailer in the country, Dyke said, and have two hundred twenty four redesigned sedans, or around a 15-day supply, plus fifteen of the two thousand sixteen version. He said customers are excited about the car, which he praised. Sonic expects supplies to be much better in May.
Tim Kraemer, senior vice president at Carousel Motor Group in Minneapolis and chairman of the BMW National Dealer Forum, has heard from other dealers on the supply challenge. Forum members talked with BMW executives this month about inventories.
“We want to make sure everyone is watching and monitoring the correct balance, and I believe they are,” Kraemer said. The pipeline will be packed, but “they don’t want to oversupply it to where either one of us has to discount it or incentivize it to sell.”
Carousel’s BMW of Minnetonka has twelve of the cars, less than a 15-day supply, Kraemer said. It had about twenty seven preorders for the car, equivalent to about a month of 5-series sales for the dealership. BMW has provided good support for the car, including lease programs and a $Two,000 loyalty bonus to buyers who have possessed BMWs in the past, he said.
For the previous-generation version, incentives soared to an average of $11,005 per car in January, according to Autodata. The nameplate’s incentives fell in February and March as old vehicles were cleared out. The average incentive in March was $6,284. Dealers still have some old vehicles on their lots, but the nationwide supply was down to about one hundred vehicles by late April, the company said.
U.S. sales of the five series have dropped steadily since peaking at 56,863 in 2013. In 2016, BMW sold 32,408, down twenty seven percent from a year earlier. This year through March, the company sold 6,641 five series, down thirty two percent through the sell-down period.
Advertising support is ramping up. Sonic’s Dyke expects marketing activity to spike in May when more cars are available at dealerships.
BMW is spending about twenty percent more than is common for a launch on the two thousand seventeen Five series, said Trudy Hardy, vice president of marketing for BMW of North America, without providing a dollar figure.
The spend will be biased slightly more toward digital and data-based marketing vs. broadcast TV than is typical, she added. TV advertising kicked off in March and will be strong through the spring.
BMW dealers sob out for more five series
BMW dealers sob out for more five series
As the launch of the redesigned two thousand seventeen BMW five series ramps up, dealers have a common refrain: More cars!
“We just don’t have enough product,” said Jeff Dyke, executive vice president of operations for Sonic Automotive Inc. Supplies are “indeed, truly light. We need more.”
At the end of March, BMW had just two hundred unsold sedans in dealer inventory, said Ludwig Willisch, head of BMW Group Region Americas. The redesigned five series began arriving in dealerships in mid-February. Customers had preordered about Two,000.
“So it’s a scarce species,” Willisch said. “Was it indeed expected to be that low? I don’t think so, but it’s one of the nicer problems to have.”
Production and deliveries have ramped up since the end of March, a BMW spokesman said. Dealers on average should have a two- to three-week supply now during the launch.
Sonic’s fifteen BMW stores are the most of any retailer in the country, Dyke said, and have two hundred twenty four redesigned sedans, or around a 15-day supply, plus fifteen of the two thousand sixteen version. He said customers are excited about the car, which he praised. Sonic expects supplies to be much better in May.
Tim Kraemer, senior vice president at Carousel Motor Group in Minneapolis and chairman of the BMW National Dealer Forum, has heard from other dealers on the supply challenge. Forum members talked with BMW executives this month about inventories.
“We want to make sure everyone is watching and monitoring the correct balance, and I believe they are,” Kraemer said. The pipeline will be packed, but “they don’t want to oversupply it to where either one of us has to discount it or incentivize it to sell.”
Carousel’s BMW of Minnetonka has twelve of the cars, less than a 15-day supply, Kraemer said. It had about twenty seven preorders for the car, equivalent to about a month of 5-series sales for the dealership. BMW has provided good support for the car, including lease programs and a $Two,000 loyalty bonus to buyers who have possessed BMWs in the past, he said.
For the previous-generation version, incentives soared to an average of $11,005 per car in January, according to Autodata. The nameplate’s incentives fell in February and March as old vehicles were cleared out. The average incentive in March was $6,284. Dealers still have some old vehicles on their lots, but the nationwide supply was down to about one hundred vehicles by late April, the company said.
U.S. sales of the five series have dropped steadily since peaking at 56,863 in 2013. In 2016, BMW sold 32,408, down twenty seven percent from a year earlier. This year through March, the company sold 6,641 five series, down thirty two percent through the sell-down period.
Advertising support is ramping up. Sonic’s Dyke expects marketing activity to spike in May when more cars are available at dealerships.
BMW is spending about twenty percent more than is common for a launch on the two thousand seventeen Five series, said Trudy Hardy, vice president of marketing for BMW of North America, without providing a dollar figure.
The spend will be biased slightly more toward digital and data-based marketing vs. broadcast TV than is typical, she added. TV advertising kicked off in March and will be strong through the spring.