[DDD31]

BMW might be in for a tough year if they want to retain sales crown.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...during-january

Sales figures:

Mercedes: 150,814 an increase of 20%
Audi: 143,150 an increase of 4%
BMW: 133,883 an increase of 7.5%

[fecurtis]

In before everyone else uses that report as a harbinger to claim the inevitable demise of BMW.

[mkoesel]

It would be interesting to see per-month numbers from 2015. Based on the percentage increases listed, it looks as though BMW also got beat by Audi in January 2015. Not sure about Mercedes, need more time than I have at the moment to run the math.

[aloksatoor]

Sadly the moment they start making more crossovers, BMW will be back up. And abominations like FWD 1/2 series etc....

[David70]

A number of things.

One month doesn't mean much. Not sure why this "crown" is important to me or them, I would be far more interested in profit and volume doesn't always equate to more profit. I think GM was #2 in global sales volume when they went bankrupt (obviously there is more to running a business than just making lots of cars). If they go down market and produce tons of 1 series and Mini's the volume will also go up but I hope they don't.

[keanu1]

I think bmw loses because of interior and exterior design. The c class has a great interior, great exterior. The new e class is luxury everywhere. Audi is on par with Mercedes. Bmw should change Their design philosophy , should make nicer interiors. X3,x4 and 3,4 series have the worst interior design. Even Volvo is trying more.

[Em135eye]

They are still far better than the other two so I don't care.
If anything I'd rather see less "execs" driving badly in base model 3 series, thinking they own the road.
BMWs are about 6/8 cylinders, RWD and driving fun.
Audis are mostly FWD and with the engine well in front of the front axle.
Mercedes are about fussy interiors and pointless bling.

[M3 Adjuster]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articl...to-buy-loaners


Pretty interesting how badly BMW wantts to retain the crown



BMW paid its dealers as much as $1,750 a vehicle in December to put new models in their service fleets, the cars owners use when their Z4 convertibles or 7 Series sedans are being worked on. Dealers booked the sales immediately, and the deliveries helped the company hit its target, said the people, who asked not to be identified because details of the strategy are private. BMW beat Lexus for the year by about 1,400 cars and Daimler AG’s Mercedes by almost 3,000, setting a record for its U.S. sales, according to Autodata Corp., a research company.

[Chihuahua]

Originally Posted by Em135eye

BMWs are about 6/8 cylinders, RWD and driving fun.

Not anymore.

[secretsquirrel]

This is good news. We need for them to stay for them to stay in the lab.

[lens]

Originally Posted by Em135eye

They are still far better than the other two so I don't care.
If anything I'd rather see less "execs" driving badly in base model 3 series, thinking they own the road.
BMWs are about 6/8 cylinders, RWD and driving fun.
Audis are mostly FWD and with the engine well in front of the front axle.
Mercedes are about fussy interiors and pointless bling.

Unfortunately, BMW has always been the underdog (IMO) they have the slowest cars out of the 3 main german tri-force, and the most aged interior.

Now, BMW gets made fun of, for fake interior engine noise or routing engine sounds through the speakers.

Even tuning a BMW nowadays requires alot of things to be changed (for example, chargepipes.) while other vehicles such as Mercedes and Audi just need a tune or pulley and they hit 11 sec 1/4 mile time easily.

But the new 40i is promising for tuning, only time will tell if BMW will rise back up to the top, but for the moment, they are at the bottom of the table.

....Oh, and the drivers seem to get worst and worst. (Not any of you, you guys are all awesome )

[Em135eye]

Originally Posted by chaungo

Unfortunately, BMW has always been the underdog (IMO) they have the slowest cars out of the 3 main german tri-force, and the most aged interior.

Now, BMW gets made fun of, for fake interior engine noise or routing engine sounds through the speakers.

Even tuning a BMW nowadays requires alot of things to be changed (for example, chargepipes.) while other vehicles such as Mercedes and Audi just need a tune or pulley and they hit 11 sec 1/4 mile time easily.

But the new 40i is promising for tuning, only time will tell if BMW will rise back up to the top, but for the moment, they are at the bottom of the table.

....Oh, and the drivers seem to get worst and worst. (Not any of you, you guys are all awesome )

Have you driven any modern BMWs?!

[Z K]

BMW needs to get off the weird designs and get back to making great cars. Their M model cars are still pretty good but they're loosing the mojo with each new model. They get bigger and softer every generation.

They're resting on their past successes while Audi and MB eat their lunch with newer cars and better build quality.

[Em135eye]

They do need to drop the heinous 2 series active tourer NOW. And the X6 and X4.
But other than that, the M1/235i are still brilliant, the M2 is amazing, the X3 and X5 are still great sporty SUVs, they still lead on efficiency, they don't platform share.

Easily the best brand IMO.