# New Sales Support Programs for January



## Mikla (Nov 20, 2011)

E90Alan said:


> I have been thinking the same thing watching this the last month or so. As we see in this thread already, customers will come to expect the incentives and this cheapens the brand. Not a good long term strategy IMO. This is also bound to have an impact on resale values.
> 
> It will be interesting to see BMWs numbers for Q1 2012 (exclusive of the new 3-series). They may have just shifted Q1 2012 demand to Q4 2011 and hurt themselves.


Unfortunately, I think you're right. Hopefully they won't do it so often as to ruin the brand. Maybe limit it to model years before a new version comes out, or to December deals. I'm not saying I don't like a good deal, mind you, but offer them sparingly!


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## Blkthght (Dec 28, 2011)

Jon Shafer said:


> That's what it looks like on my first quick scan. These BMW marketing bulletins are written like scientific research papers nowadays.
> Even with a Master's Degree, it sometimes takes me a few passes to wrap my brain around them.
> 
> I will be offline for a lot of the day today. I just want to add that The Navigation Option Credit for MY12 5 Series, X5 and X6 along
> ...


Jon,

Sad to hear that its a wrap for the navigation credit. I have an inflexible travel date for the ED I that want to do and I think it just cost me $1730. I rolled the dice thinking that the nav credit would survive the new year. Oh well. Anyway, are you aware of any other credits that apply to the 2012 550i? Perhaps in February?


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## BenF12400 (Sep 2, 2009)

Do the majority of BMW drivers lease their vehicles or do some people actually buy them? I plan to purchase an X5 soon with the hope of a South Carolina pickup and it seems that most people on Bimmerfest lease vehicles (won't work for me). I realize the end-of-year incentives are gone but am I wrong or were these incentives more lease-oriented than purchase-oriented? I would be interested in hearing from the CAs on this site. For the record we have an 06 X3 and 2010 528x - both purchased used - each had less than 20,000 miles when purchased so I doubt they were off leases. I think there were a shortage of leased vehicles when the economy tanked.


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## dtc100 (Jan 24, 2011)

When I was briefly with Liberty Mutual, my agent told me about 75% of her BMW customers leased.


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## anE934fun (May 10, 2008)

BenF12400 said:


> Do the majority of BMW drivers lease their vehicles or do some people actually buy them? I plan to purchase an X5 soon with the hope of a South Carolina pickup and it seems that most people on Bimmerfest lease vehicles (won't work for me). I realize the end-of-year incentives are gone but am I wrong or were these incentives more lease-oriented than purchase-oriented? I would be interested in hearing from the CAs on this site. For the record we have an 06 X3 and 2010 528x - both purchased used - each had less than 20,000 miles when purchased so I doubt they were off leases. I think there were a shortage of leased vehicles when the economy tanked.


I have done both purchase and lease. My d is a purchased car. The ex-E93 was leased.


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## sdg1871 (Mar 9, 2009)

dtc100 said:


> When I was briefly with Liberty Mutual, my agent told me about 75% of her BMW customers leased.


No surprise. BMW lease terms are generally more favorable than some if its top competitors such as MB. Generally, lower money factors and higher residuals


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## Jon Shafer (Dec 15, 2001)

Blkthght said:


> Jon,
> 
> Sad to hear that its a wrap for the navigation credit. I have an inflexible travel date for the ED I that want to do and I think it just cost me $1730. I rolled the dice thinking that the nav credit would survive the new year. Oh well. Anyway, are you aware of any other credits that apply to the 2012 550i? Perhaps in February?


It's almost mid-January already. When are you planning on going to Europe? Within/around 30 days?


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## anE934fun (May 10, 2008)

E90Alan said:


> I have been thinking the same thing watching this the last month or so. As we see in this thread already, customers will come to expect the incentives and this cheapens the brand. Not a good long term strategy IMO. This is also bound to have an impact on resale values.
> 
> It will be interesting to see BMWs numbers for Q1 2012 (exclusive of the new 3-series). *They may have just shifted Q1 2012 demand to Q4 2011 and hurt themselves*.


Bragging rights to the 2011 sales championship title would appear to be more important to BMW NA than any sales shift. Besides, incentives can be rolled out later in the year if necessary.


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## chrischeung (Sep 1, 2002)

E90Alan said:


> They may have just shifted Q1 2012 demand to Q4 2011 and hurt themselves.


How is that? Isn't it better to have a sale in the hand? Also the F30 3 series is coming in a month, which should increase sales.


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## Jon Shafer (Dec 15, 2001)

Incentives such as they have been are a slippery slope, a rabbit hole the BMW really hasn't been down before. I remember in the 70's, the first time I ever heard the word "Rebate". Since then it has been a common term in the context of US Domestic Auto Sales. Once you ring a bell, you can't always unring it... Look for more heavy marketing gimmicks in the future. Something like a dozen or more new models are planned for introduction in 2012. You can bet we have not seen the end of the OLP.


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## dtc100 (Jan 24, 2011)

sdg1871 said:


> No surprise. BMW lease terms are generally more favorable than some if its top competitors such as MB. Generally, lower money factors and higher residuals


The BMW MFs have not been very good lately, compared to the competitors'.


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## Blkthght (Dec 28, 2011)

Jon Shafer said:


> It's almost mid-January already. When are you planning on going to Europe? Within/around 30 days?


Unfortunately its outside 30 days. The earliest I can go is the end of April. But I have been told that if I'm going to purchase a 550i then I didn't really miss out on anything because those cars rarely have options credits applicable to them.


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## petercnj (Oct 23, 2007)

Jon - thanks for this information. To confirm, the January 2012 pull-ahead program is only available for customers currently in a 6 or 7-series lease that matures within 6 months?

And the $1000/MF factor reduction loyalty incentive went away?

Thanks


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## chrischeung (Sep 1, 2002)

Jon Shafer said:


> Once you ring a bell, you can't always unring it... Look for more heavy marketing gimmicks in the future.


It was strange that BMW basically cut off all incentives with the new year, rather than gradually wean folks off. The cold turkey approach. Gutsy, ballsy, but perhaps a little too rash. I would have slowed it down, and a little bit each month/period, so that it is less noticeable.

In the end, it's their company, and their jobs on the line. It'll be interesting to say the least - especially if Benz, Lexus etc. remain aggressive.


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## BravoMikeWiskey (May 28, 2007)

*Stand by for enhancements...*

If BMW cars operated the way their marketing programs sometimes do, one would get a whiplash every time he/she got into one - a sudden massive surge of acceleration followed by just as sudden deceleration....A lot of tear and wear on the car and its occupants...

I think the 'enhancement' bulletins aren't too far off...


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## Red Lined (Jan 3, 2012)

petercnj said:


> Jon - thanks for this information. To confirm, the January 2012 pull-ahead program is only available for customers currently in a 6 or 7-series lease that matures within 6 months?
> 
> *And the $1000/MF factor reduction loyalty incentive went away?*
> 
> Thanks


+1

They didn't take that away too, did they? Also, this is renewable every year, right? So if you used OLP in November, you would still be able to use it in say April too, right?


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## Jon Shafer (Dec 15, 2001)

Red Lined said:


> +1
> 
> They didn't take that away too, did they? Also, this is renewable every year, right? So if you used OLP in November, you would still be able to use it in say April too, right?


It's gone for now. Sorry... Hopefully the will bring it back. Ideally, it would become a permanent feature
of their marketing strategy, don't you think? ...Just in case anyone is listening...


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## Red Lined (Jan 3, 2012)

Jon Shafer said:


> It's gone for now. Sorry... Hopefully the will bring it back. Ideally, it would become a permanent feature
> of their marketing strategy, don't you think? ...Just in case anyone is listening...


It definitely should. It's funny how $3730 in incentives on the 528 and 535 have just been wiped clean this month. I hope BMW doesn't take away the CCA rebate too now...

I understand that they probably want to make as much as possible when the new F30 comes out, but if they really want to attract repeat business and possibly more business this year I would think they would want bring back OLP and hopefully the BMW test drive for Team USA (you know actually taking advantage of the affiliation they are taking towards the the olympics in their marketing). If they did that around March/April and offered a $1k rebate for both OLP and Olympics, they would get more people into the showrooms to see the new cars (not to say that a new F30 won't attract customers, but offering an added incentive may actually pull customers away from the steep competition in the segment, not to mention the benefit to their other models) and most likely spur more business. If this car drives as well as reviewers are saying it does, a test drive and added "cash bonus" may very well seal the deal with potential clients. Maybe they will just inflate lease numbers like they always do? Oh well, I guess my business acumen isn't as up to par as the bright minds at BMW NA.


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## Weaselboy (Jul 7, 2002)

anE934fun said:


> Bragging rights to the 2011 sales championship title would appear to be more important to BMW NA than any sales shift. Besides, incentives can be rolled out later in the year if necessary.


Understood, which makes my point that you don't want to get people used to incentives.



chrischeung said:


> How is that? Isn't it better to have a sale in the hand? Also the F30 3 series is coming in a month, which should increase sales.


Not necessarily, if demand is shifted out of Q1 2012 where does that leave BMW in the "we're number one" race next year and where does that leave them when quarterly profits are announced at the end of Q1. If you read my comment you will see I specifically mentioned this being exclusive of F30 sales.


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## chrischeung (Sep 1, 2002)

Why wouldn't you count F30 sales as part of overall sales? New models get released all the time, so that all manufacturers get some "pop" by new cars all the time.

Another consideration is what if you don't go after Dec sales, but Benz does. Not only do they take the crown, but they are so aggressive that they end up taking more of your customers anyway - those that would have bought BMWs in Jan and Feb, but instead bought Benz's. In some ways you need to play the game the same way your opponents are playing. If they get dirty, you're going to come away with at least a little mud on you.

Finally, how many sales are we talking about? An additional 1000 cars? 3000 cars? Probably not that many to make a difference considering the splash that the F30 will make. Plus its good for morale.

I wonder if the "regular" buyer is as clued into incentives (or care) as much as we do. Meaning they only care what deal they can get with the incentives currently available, perhaps amongst all competitors, rather than shop by time of year.


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## bren (Jul 1, 2002)

chrischeung said:


> The JGC has a unibody now, whereas in the past it was body on frame.


Incorrect. The JGC has always been built on a unibody - it wasn't until recently that they moved away from solid axles however, and went with independent suspension all around.

The new JGC interior with full leather dash, ventilated seats, etc., is on par with the best of the _luxury_ class, and is a far greater "value" than anything in its class - but it's no "BMW" when you get behind the wheel.


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## LeMansX5 (Sep 27, 2004)

Jon Shafer said:


> Gen 1 ML 320 was an old truck frame with an SUV body attached. That was X5's edge when it was a bit late and followed the ML
> to the SUV party (with monococque construction)...


Exactly. ML became unibody with 2nd gen and Mercedes admitted to the "body on frame" mistake when they released the 2nd gen ML. X5 still maintains the edge.:thumbup: 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_M-Class


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## Weaselboy (Jul 7, 2002)

chrischeung said:


> Why wouldn't you count F30 sales as part of overall sales?


In order to have an accurate year over year assessment of the impact of the rebates alone.

You can't inject a new model as a variable and still try to compare the effect of rebates.


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## Jon Shafer (Dec 15, 2001)

One thing you will probably never be able to get on either a Benz or a JEEP is BMW's near perfect 50/50 weight distribution. Even the new Audi Q's, as caliente as they are, are all nose-heavy beasts compared to pur beloved Bimmers. And that's the bottom line from my perspective (as an enthusiast). Even my wife (who for years swore by her Audis/Jeeps/Land Rovers), would agree that in the long run, there is no other worth having if you are a driver... There is no debating this fact until another manufacturer truly gets serious about taking aim at BMW. My point is that even without a rebate to sweeten the deal, I wouldn't consider buying/leasing anything else...


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## chrischeung (Sep 1, 2002)

extremeromance said:


> I wonder how many people took advantage of the Active Hybrid 7 deal because of the thread Chris made, I know I'm picking one up along with bimmerfest members iwantone, dencoop, valentino and peace2peep. That's 5 regular posters on bimmerfest. I wonder how many orders went in total because of the thread.


I just updated the ED calendar with my new date. For February, 5/15 (33%) of the deliveries posted are for 750iAHs. For March, 4/10 (40%) are for 750iAHs. I wonder if the Welt staff will notice the spike.

I'm going to speculate and assume 100% of those are leases.


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## [email protected] BMW (Aug 2, 2010)

it's an amazing deal.............. I'm getting mine stateside in March............. 750iH TITANIUM SILVER, BLACK NAPPA, REAR ENTERTAINMENT, SAT RADIO, 20" WHEELS.......... two other CA's, a manager and the owner here are getting one as well!!


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## vern (Apr 19, 2002)

Jon Shafer said:


> One thing you will probably never be able to get on either a Benz or a JEEP is BMW's near perfect 50/50 weight distribution. Even the new Audi Q's, as caliente as they are, are all nose-heavy beasts compared to pur beloved Bimmers. And that's the bottom line from my perspective (as an enthusiast). Even my wife (who for years swore by her Audis/Jeeps/Land Rovers), would agree that in the long run, there is no other worth having if you are a driver... There is no debating this fact until another manufacturer truly gets serious about taking aim at BMW. My point is that even without a rebate to sweeten the deal, I wouldn't consider buying/leasing anything else...


Lets get back to the subject," new sales support programs for January".
cheers
vern


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## pistolpuma (Mar 22, 2007)

vern said:


> Lets get back to the subject," new sales support programs for January".
> cheers
> vern


Not as much to talk about this month.


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## chrischeung (Sep 1, 2002)

Definitely a bit of a snoozefest. It's almost as if BMW deliberately made things less attractive, perhaps in order to force CAs to take some well deserved time off.


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## obi.wan (Feb 14, 2007)

Jon Shafer said:


> One thing you will probably never be able to get on either a Benz or a JEEP is BMW's near perfect 50/50 weight distribution.


ahem.... I think the wagons are 50/50 more so than the sedans though no RWD option here ever. in fact no wagons ..........


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## pistolpuma (Mar 22, 2007)

chrischeung said:


> Definitely a bit of a snoozefest. It's almost as if BMW deliberately made things less attractive, perhaps in order to force CAs to take some well deserved time off.


to go surfin'. :thumbup:


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## dtc100 (Jan 24, 2011)

pistolpuma said:


> to go surfin'. :thumbup:


If you are near some nice beaches like Jon. Or go skiing, except there is no powder to speak of.

Maybe they will revise the deals half way through the month.


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## pistolpuma (Mar 22, 2007)

dtc100 said:


> If you are near some nice beaches like Jon. Or go skiing, except there is no powder to speak of.
> 
> Maybe they will revise the deals half way through the month.


Too late for me. Bought last month. But it's nice to see what I'm missing.


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## anE934fun (May 10, 2008)

Jon Shafer said:


> One thing you will probably never be able to get on either a Benz or a JEEP is BMW's near perfect 50/50 weight distribution. Even the new Audi Q's, as caliente as they are, are all nose-heavy beasts compared to pur beloved Bimmers. And that's the bottom line from my perspective (as an enthusiast). Even my wife (who for years swore by her Audis/Jeeps/Land Rovers), would agree that in the long run, there is no other worth having if you are a driver... There is no debating this fact until another manufacturer truly gets serious about taking aim at BMW. My point is that even without a rebate to sweeten the deal, I wouldn't consider buying/leasing anything else...





vern said:


> *Lets get back to the subject," new sales support programs for January".*
> cheers
> vern


I would tend to guess there are no sales support programs for January at the moment.... Certainly nothing to compare to what was available end of 2011 that expired 1/3/2012.


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