As if the Toyota/Lexus numbers and the agonizing thread on Acura weren't enough, yet another bimmer thread.

From today's Wall Street Journal, bimmer sales for January 2004 compared to 2003. The format is January 2004/January 2003/ % change.

Total 16,135/19,823/-18.6%
Domestic Car 333/1,338/-75.1%
Import Car 13,030/15,791/-17.5%
Domestic Truck 1,989/2,694/-26.2%
Import Truck 783/-/-
Mini 2,756/2,818/-2.2%

So much for bimmer trying to fight it out with Lexus for sales.

In case you think I am the slightest bit happy about this, you are wrong. If bimmer got their reliability and value issues under control, I would be back looking at a bimmer. And for those of you who were hoping the new Lexus models would be more radical, well, I bet there are some people at bimmer wishing they had gone slower banglizing. The third new five I have seen on the road was parked next to me at a parking lot at lunch. My wife, who has been somewhat supportive of the new bimmer designs, said it just didn't look like an expensive car anymore. Can't disagree. But at least it was black, in the lighter colors it is really unimpressive, which is unusual in its own right - silver is usually very flattering in a car. Still firmly believe Acura got that look right in the new TL.

Wonder when management is going to start shaking things up?

 

Wow, down 17.5% down in import car sales and 75.1% decrease in domestic car sales...definitely not good. I too am wondering when they are going to shake things up, they'd better do it soon. Do you have a breakdown of sales by car/SUV model, e.g. C class, E class, etc.?

 

My bosses new 530i just dropped a head gasket this past weekend.. Car only has 8500 kms on it.. BMW picks the car up at his home and bring it back to the dealership and while taking the car off the flat bed they smashed his rear bumper into another car.. To top the whole thing off they refuse to give him a courtesy car and make him rent a car from them (Saturn 4 door)..

Now you wonder why BMW sales are so bad..

 

Wait wait wait... They screw up the car and make HIM rent another one?

What the hell kind of service is that? If a company has a malfunction under warranty, they should be on hands and knees trying to solve the issue.

-Anthony

 

Yup you read that correct.. Its not even my car but I felt like giving them a piece of my mind when he was telling me about it.. Sheesh..

 

Wow. Guess who's NEVER buying a BMW? I pity all those people who think theyre the worlds best car, not only is their service just THAT ****ty, but a head gasket fails at 5,000 miles!?!?!?!?!

 

When my last seven developed a towable "challenge" I found out about the bimmer extended warranty, which pays for the rental car. However, they only pay for the rental car for the amount of time that they determine it takes to make the repair. They determined my repair would be done in two days so that is all they paid for. It took almost three weeks to get the parts in and then another week for the repair. A months rental car for which they paid for two days.

Any other questions about how hard bimmer is going to have to work to get me back as a customer? I guess the bottom line is that what put me decidedly off of bimmers was not the styling of their bodywork or the lack of gizmos in the car. If they want me back, they need to spend as much time on reliability and value as they do on atomic powered steering pumps.

And from this morning on Reuters:

"DaimlerChrysler said on Thursday that global sales of its Mercedes-Benz and small Smart cars totalled 76,800 units in January, down 8 percent from a year ago.

Sales of the high margin luxury Mercedes brand, which has been the group's main profit driver in recent years, were down 10.1 percent versus the same month last year at 69,700 units, the world's fifth biggest carmaker said in a statement."

Don' t have breakdown on the bimmer numbers, the WSJ just reports the totals. Will try to look when I get some time but you have to come to the conclusion that they have probably quit making big deals on the seven, the three is slowing down, and the five is a disappointment, to get those awful numbers. You might be able to rationalize things and say that all the car makers had a rough January but then those Toyota/Lexus numbers reappear. I also assume bimmer is not exactly going to be making the sales numbers breakdown easy to get.

 

You're probably right. The bottom line is that they are losing sales while Lexus is doing well during the same periods. I agree that the 5 is a disappointment. Since it was released, I've only seen one on the road (actually, it was on display as a prize for a raffle at a local mall). I wasn't impressed. To me, the rear end looked nicer in person, but the sides of the car look unfinished because it is so slab-sided. The front end looks like it was squished, and the headlights which are pulled back on the top only adds to this squished appearance. The interior was nothing special either, Acura did a much better job in its interpretation of a sporty/luxurious interior.

I think the sales of the 3 series are keeping BMW's numbers from being worse. There are so many of those on the road, and I think they look very nice and classy, albeit a little small for my tastes.

It's disappointing to see BMW fall from grace, they produced really great cars prior to the last few years, with the exception of the 3 series.