[Jason]

BIMMERPOST NEWS

BMW U.S. Reports January 2016 Sales

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BMW brand sales decrease 7 percent
MINI brand sales increase 0.3 percent
BMW Motorcycle sales decrease 9 percent

Woodcliff Lake, NJ – February 2, 2016… Sales of BMW brand vehicles decreased 4.7 percent in January for a total of 18,082 compared to 18,981 vehicles sold in January, 2015.

“As expected, January suffered a bit from the strong storms that froze large parts of the country,” said Ludwig Willisch, President and CEO, BMW of North America. “In spite of the obstacles, the new BMW X1 showed extraordinary growth and our 7 Series and X3 set the momentum we expect to continue in the year ahead.”

Sales of BMW Sports Activity Vehicles gave a boost to January with the new BMW X1 leading the way, increasing 274.0 percent and the BMW X3 increasing 49.3 percent. In its third full month of sales, the new BMW 7 Series continued its upward momentum increasing 33.0 percent from January a year ago.

BMW Group Sales
In total, the BMW Group in the U.S. (BMW and MINI combined) reported January sales of 21,320 vehicles, a decrease of 4.0 percent from the 22,209 vehicles sold in the same month a year ago.

MINI Brand Sales
For January, MINI USA reports 3,238 automobiles sold, an increase of 0.3 percent from the 3,228 sold in the same month a year ago.

BMW Pre-Owned Vehicles
In January, BMW Certified Pre-Owned sold 8,212 vehicles, down 6.1 percent from January 2015.

Total BMW Pre-Owned sold 13,743 vehicles in January 2016, a 5.6 percent decrease from January 2015.

MINI Pre-Owned Vehicles
Sales of MINI NEXT (certified pre-owned) set a January record with 855 vehicles, up 0.7 percent over January 2015.

Total MINI Pre-Owned sales for January were 1,853 cars, an increase of 1.9 percent from January 2015.

BMW Motorrad Sales
With business heavily impacted by inclement weather, sales of BMW motorcycles in January decreased 31.9 percent, to 450 motorcycles compared to the 661 sold in January 2015.

[timcschmidt]

Another weak month. Worse than the 4% yoy sales decline is the likely margin compression. Especially on the X cars they are loosing a lot on the high margin cars and gaining on the lower end ones.

[mike@Vossen]

The month had one less sales weekend and there was some crazy weather going on...I think most will post decreases....

[mik821]

Maybe people are finally starting to realize that all BMW cars became outrageously overpriced over the past years and that the quality is not there anymore. Other brands may not be better, but at least are much cheaper.

[fazman]

Originally Posted by mike@Vossen

The month had one less sales weekend and there was some crazy weather going on...I think most will post decreases....

Not sure why BMW doesn't offer longer period finance promotions like other manufacturers if they want to really get market share. Who wants to buy a luxury vehicle on the CPO market if they are only going to get 0.9% financing for 24 months... other import manufacturers can offer 0% for 60 months on new.

I can understand that they want to make more money in pumping out leases for new cars at BMW... but those new cars eventually need to be returned or "pull ahead" returns and then become a liability for the resale value/market.

If they made the used/CPO market easier to move... they would probably do far better with a greater following. I've noticed that Lexus CPO program has removed mileage limitations from their program... that does say a lot for how much they are willing to stand behind a product.

[LinkF1]

Interesting that the 5 outsold the 3 and the X3 outsold the X1.

[KELVIN7]

No M series?

[rmedeir1]

Originally Posted by mik821

Maybe people are finally starting to realize that all BMW cars became outrageously overpriced over the past years and that the quality is not there anymore. Other brands may not be better, but at least are much cheaper.

Not seeing or understanding the opinion on quality comment. Personally I feel from e46 to E92 to f8x quality and reliability has remained flat. Unless there is quant pointing to the quality disregarding this post

[TheBingoBalls]

Originally Posted by mik821

Maybe people are finally starting to realize that all BMW cars became outrageously overpriced over the past years and that the quality is not there anymore. Other brands may not be better, but at least are much cheaper.

Or BMW just had a down month like all businesses do - no need to make excuses or rationalize why. A slight overreaction whenever BMW posts a decrease, and then they come back next month with a record month and everything is all fine and dandy.

[Neckbeardz]

Why is there sudden interest in the 5 series? It's one of the oldest models in the range.

[F80NJM3]

Would like to see M numbers specifically.

[F80NJM3]

Originally Posted by Neckbeardz

Why is there sudden interest in the 5 series? It's one of the oldest models in the range.

They're probably running good programs before the new one comes out.

[mik821]

Originally Posted by rmedeir1

Not seeing or understanding the opinion on quality comment. Personally I feel from e46 to E92 to f8x quality and reliability has remained flat. Unless there is quant pointing to the quality disregarding this post

The comment was more about price vs. quality, or price vs. what you get. It became normal to spend around 50k for a 4 cylinder 3 Series. My personal opinion is that it is abnormal, and hopefully some feel the same. I guess in the end what bothers me more is BMW's recent prices hikes rather than the occasional headaches given by poor reliability.

[SakhirM4]

Originally Posted by mik821

The comment was more about price vs. quality, or price vs. what you get. It became normal to spend around 50k for a 4 cylinder 3 Series. My personal opinion is that it is abnormal, and hopefully some feel the same. I guess in the end what bothers me more is BMW's recent prices hikes rather than the occasional headaches given by poor reliability.

People take advances in automotive engineering and technology for granted today. My first BMW was a new 1977 320i. It had a 4 cylinder engine with 110hp. It had roll up windows, manual sunroof, manual seats, a four-speed tranny. No electronics, no engine management, no technology, no nav, etc., etc. It cost me $11,000 which is equivalent to $45,000 today. For less than $45,000 today a "4 cylinder 3-series" has 240hp, power everything, technology that is amazing. To me, an old guy, it doesn't appear that BMW has taken a step back in anything.

I know some people jump on the reliability band wagon, but I haven't had that issue. Since that first 1977 320i, I have owned nothing but BMWs - 18 of them - and have never had a reliability issue. Call me a badge whore or a fanboy, but I think you, sir, are being very unfair to BMW.

[M-Pilot]

Originally Posted by kk201358

No M series?

I think M series are rolled into their corresponding series. For example, 3 series sales include M3 as well AFAIK.

[ZilberGrau ZHP]

6 series wow getting a little long in the tooth and the sales show it

[Bosozoku]

Originally Posted by mik821

The comment was more about price vs. quality, or price vs. what you get. It became normal to spend around 50k for a 4 cylinder 3 Series. My personal opinion is that it is abnormal, and hopefully some feel the same. I guess in the end what bothers me more is BMW's recent prices hikes rather than the occasional headaches given by poor reliability.

Maybe M2 pricing is a glimpse at BMW's future plans.
Lots of features that are (expensive) options on the M235i are standard.
A fully-loaded M2 and fully-loaded M235i are within $10 of each other's price.

I think people's negative reaction to base price hikes is stronger than their positive reaction to more standard equipment being bundled in at the base price. I wonder how you plug those positive/negative reaction values into a spreadsheet.

[DDD31]

Interesting spin by BMW when Mercedes has another month of record sales in January 2016:

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...300213771.html

[M-Pilot]

Originally Posted by DDD31

Interesting spin by BMW when Mercedes has another month of record sales in January 2016:

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...300213771.html

They sold 125 AMG GT

[scoleda]

Originally Posted by mik821

The comment was more about price vs. quality, or price vs. what you get. It became normal to spend around 50k for a 4 cylinder 3 Series. My personal opinion is that it is abnormal, and hopefully some feel the same. I guess in the end what bothers me more is BMW's recent prices hikes rather than the occasional headaches given by poor reliability.

Adjusting for inflation, BMW brand is about 10% less expensive than 10 years ago. More power. Longer engine lifespan. We were spending 50k in 2000s money equivalent to get a 6 cylinder 328 with FAR less power and more known issues.

[gtron]

they can blame the weather but they produce so many vehicles now that they do not retain their value and they have to charge silly prices on things like leases. for the people that upgrade cars every two years it's just not worth it. it's too bad they're so watered down now. sad times.

a quick list of cars you can try for the same or less than a leased m3:
range rover
porsche
jaguar
maserati
*mercedes
*audi
alfa romeo
lotus

i thought about brand loyalty since i've owned four BMWs but it seems BMW is not loyal to it's consumer so why would the consumer be loyal to them?

*very debatable alternatives.

i will be sobbing quietly in the corner if anyone needs me. haha

[fecurtis]

Originally Posted by mik821

The comment was more about price vs. quality, or price vs. what you get. It became normal to spend around 50k for a 4 cylinder 3 Series. My personal opinion is that it is abnormal, and hopefully some feel the same. I guess in the end what bothers me more is BMW's recent prices hikes rather than the occasional headaches given by poor reliability.

It makes more power and gets better mileage than the NA I6 it replaces.

But I guess you're right, for $50k you could instead get an Audi A4, Cadillac ATS 2.0T, or a C300 oh shit wait....

So I guess instead of all of those cars with 4 cylinders, you could save money and get a Lexus IS250 with a V6 engine which is the slowest car in the class and gets the worst gas mileage...that's probably why Lexus finally started offering an IS200t, but what do I know?

Besides, I'm sure the price increases are keeping up with inflation...prices go up over time.