[E90ice]

I honestly don't feel that bad for them. I mean, just look how bad the Nav maps looks. Sure, I didn't buy this car for the NAV, but still.... for 50k they could have made that Map Screen look better. Seriously.
The fog lights are Yellow. Why the hell are they yellow? Because they are to cheap to put lights that are $5 more expensive.

Lets talk about tires. For the same about of money or even less....they could have equipped the 335 with excellent Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3. Instead they put the shitty Bridgestone that suck ass. WTF??

I love BMW and my 335, but some of the things they use are cheap and crappy, especially for 50k. so it's very hard for me to feel sorry for them not selling enough.

[m.rk77]

BMW has a lot of problems lately... I had a Ford that had less problems...

[footie]

T-Bone,

I never thought of the way it sounded, clearly more tack was required. But are you denying what I am saying because blunt as it may sound it is a fact. Bangles design haven't meet with universal approval and the competition have got better, this latter comment was not a case that it has surpassed that of BMW, no my point was that if you aren't happy with the current design you can find something similarly as good but happens to look a lot better and this may explain why sales are down.

Examine BMW's recent designs, the 7series, 6 series, 5series, Z4, 3series and 1series, of the all of them only the 3series has a less than radical design, both inside and out. Clearly BMW didn't want to mess with the best selling model in the range and with good reason.

I'm not here dissing BMW, lots of companies are having problems at the moment, including VAG, currently Seat and VW are under performing and it's Audi and Skoda which are keeping sales and profits healthy. Ford has sold Aston Martin and chances are that Jag and LandRover will follow suit. No one is finding it easy any more and no company can expect sales based on past credibility, there is no bad cars anymore.

As I said, even the Koreans are making bloody good cars now.

[canucklion]

China

Originally Posted by footie

there is no bad cars anymore.

[E90ice]

Originally Posted by footie

T-Bone,

I never thought of the way it sounded, clearly more tack was required. But are you denying what I am saying because blunt as it may sound it is a fact. Bangles design haven't meet with universal approval and the competition have got better, this latter comment was not a case that it has surpassed that of BMW, no my point was that if you aren't happy with the current design you can find something similarly as good but happens to look a lot better and this may explain why sales are down.

Examine BMW's recent designs, the 7series, 6 series, 5series, Z4, 3series and 1series, of the all of them only the 3series has a less than radical design, both inside and out. Clearly BMW didn't want to mess with the best selling model in the range and with good reason.

I'm not here dissing BMW, lots of companies are having problems at the moment, including VAG, currently Seat and VW are under performing and it's Audi and Skoda which are keeping sales and profits healthy. Ford has sold Aston Martin and chances are that Jag and LandRover will follow suit. No one is finding it easy any more and no company can expect sales based on past credibility, there is no bad cars anymore.

As I said, even the Koreans are making bloody good cars now.

Sounds like you are just confused!

[x5love]

Originally Posted by footie

It's very easy to understand why BMW's sales are falling, it's two simple reasons.

No.1 / Bangle's design has not meet with much favour from new or existing customers.

No.2 / The competition have got better.

With the exception being the 3 series which is holding it's own all other versions are down, some are down a little and others down a lot. Even the new X5 isn't meeting BMW's expectations.

The only car that is bucking the trend is a car without a BMW badge on it, the Mini's sales are up, year on year.

Hell even the Koreans are producing some pretty decent cars now-a-days.

BMW sales have been going up since adopting the new Bangle design.

If you look at the article again you'll see that BMW sold way more cars in December than expected, and thus had a small inventory for January--that's why sales fell, they're doing too well!

[footie]

Originally Posted by canucklion

China

I forgot about them.

[T Bone]

Originally Posted by footie

T-Bone,

I never thought of the way it sounded, clearly more tack was required. But are you denying what I am saying because blunt as it may sound it is a fact. Bangles design haven't meet with universal approval and the competition have got better, this latter comment was not a case that it has surpassed that of BMW, no my point was that if you aren't happy with the current design you can find something similarly as good but happens to look a lot better and this may explain why sales are down.

Examine BMW's recent designs, the 7series, 6 series, 5series, Z4, 3series and 1series, of the all of them only the 3series has a less than radical design, both inside and out. Clearly BMW didn't want to mess with the best selling model in the range and with good reason.

I'm not here dissing BMW, lots of companies are having problems at the moment, including VAG, currently Seat and VW are under performing and it's Audi and Skoda which are keeping sales and profits healthy. Ford has sold Aston Martin and chances are that Jag and LandRover will follow suit. No one is finding it easy any more and no company can expect sales based on past credibility, there is no bad cars anymore.

As I said, even the Koreans are making bloody good cars now.

You know, I am not a car designer and like color there can be no consensus on designs.

That being said, MB has adopted the bangle butt and the Board of BMW seems to be happy.

Sure BMW pissed some from the E46 to E92 but tough.... BTW, Bangle was one of the designers of the E46.

I commend the Koreans for trying design and hiring Americans.....The worst designers are the Japanese.....so bland and devoid of character it is not even funny......what happened to the 3 Gen RX7, Supras, NSX??? These are cool cars.

[ToothDoc]

It aint' the recession. MB has sold more this year Jan than last year Jan. Lexus is only down like 3-4% this Jan vs. last Jan.

It's the 3series bringing the sales down for BMW. They sold OVER 10,000 in Jan 07 but less than 7,000 in Jan 08. What gives? Maybe 50K is simply TOO much for a 3 series. Don't give me BS about how a 335 starts in the high 30K range etc - yeah, if it's equipped like a freaking Corolla LE. The 3 is a great car, but in that price range, they are not a good value and if you consider value, almost any luxury sports sedan gives better VALUE. Here on E90, the ride control and feel is most important, but in real life, it's about what you get for your buck.

If you look at the TL, G, IS, C, etc. NONE of them have lost as much as the 3 series. (Well, the C is a new model so it shouldn't really count). Don't tell me it's because of inventory issues. That's BS Most people buy off the lot anyways.

Only reason BMW sales are breaking records year after year is because of the increase in different models so they are breaking ground into different niches. I predict that with a weaker US dollar and more and more inflation and higher prices BMW will start seeing a hurt in the US over the next couple of years.

[ToothDoc]

Oh, the 3 series is down specifically 32.9%

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/st...4748811&EDATE=

BMW automobiles are down 28.8% Only reason overall BMW is down 22% is because of the Mini sales.

[Los Angeles]

Originally Posted by ToothDoc

Oh, the 3 series is down specifically 32.9%

BMW automobiles are down 28.8% Only reason overall BMW is down 22% is because of the Mini sales.

Eh, ~33%.

It's a good thing they have Mini.

[MCS]

Not exactly suprising,

My theory to the drop in luxury car sales is the same reason for declining home prices.

People aren't feeling as rich as they once were and are putting the brakes on unnecessary spending. Granted, transportation is a need in this country, but my guess is that potential buyers are holding onto their cash a bit longer, rather than running to a luxury dealer to buy a shiny new car.

Also - I have to believe that people were taking tapping their home equity to buy cars. The way housing prices have declined will stem this practice.

Last kicker - its an election year - crazy stuff happens to the economy.

AS for BMW sales declining quicker than MB and Lexus - Their redesigned 3 series came out 2 years ago. I would expect the 1 series to somewhat revive the numbers

[footie]

Is this figure of 33% down for the 3 series a worldwide figure or only North America?

I was under the opinion that the only car in the BMW range which worldwide was still selling well was the 3 series. The problem is we assume that BMW are this almighty large manufacturer but compared to the likes of Mercedes or VW they are a small fish in a big pond, even Audi which is a smallish sub division of the VAG group are knocking on the doors of BMW's total sales and that is with a very poor showing in the US.

[footie]

Originally Posted by E90ice

I honestly don't feel that bad for them. I mean, just look how bad the Nav maps looks. Sure, I didn't buy this car for the NAV, but still.... for 50k they could have made that Map Screen look better. Seriously.
The fog lights are Yellow. Why the hell are they yellow? Because they are to cheap to put lights that are $5 more expensive.

Lets talk about tires. For the same about of money or even less....they could have equipped the 335 with excellent Goodyear Eagle F1 GS-D3. Instead they put the shitty Bridgestone that suck ass. WTF??

I love BMW and my 335, but some of the things they use are cheap and crappy, especially for 50k. so it's very hard for me to feel sorry for them not selling enough.

May be you need to try pastures greener, like Audi.

[C4talyst]

Originally Posted by T Bone

You guys need to read the article.....

Low inventory, fewer cars, less selection, lower sales....

It is a forecasting issue from BMW.

22% is a bit much for "low inventory"...the economy is a more likely answer.

[flush01]

good, maybe they will finally drop price here in canada, it's getting ridiculous

[ages944]

Originally Posted by ToothDoc

It aint' the recession. MB has sold more this year Jan than last year Jan. Lexus is only down like 3-4% this Jan vs. last Jan.

It's the 3series bringing the sales down for BMW. They sold OVER 10,000 in Jan 07 but less than 7,000 in Jan 08. What gives? Maybe 50K is simply TOO much for a 3 series. Don't give me BS about how a 335 starts in the high 30K range etc - yeah, if it's equipped like a freaking Corolla LE. The 3 is a great car, but in that price range, they are not a good value and if you consider value, almost any luxury sports sedan gives better VALUE. Here on E90, the ride control and feel is most important, but in real life, it's about what you get for your buck.

If you look at the TL, G, IS, C, etc. NONE of them have lost as much as the 3 series. (Well, the C is a new model so it shouldn't really count). Don't tell me it's because of inventory issues. That's BS Most people buy off the lot anyways.

Only reason BMW sales are breaking records year after year is because of the increase in different models so they are breaking ground into different niches. I predict that with a weaker US dollar and more and more inflation and higher prices BMW will start seeing a hurt in the US over the next couple of years.

1. Anyone who makes an assumption based off one month's worth of data is a twit. The key is to identify trends, and not overreact to every hiccup.

2. 3'ers account for 40%+ of BMW vehicles sold. Of course they're going to account for a lot of the lost sales.

3. I'll take the brake systems, handling, and engine of the 3 over an IS, G, or Corolla any day of the week, even with plastic manual seats. BMW's aren't the cheapest cars on the road to be sure, but a great deal of engineering comes standard with the car. Gadgets are nice, but are not required.

4. Agreed, although so will everyone else.


Personally, I agree with BK and think ppl are worrying about recession, and are rethinking their buying decisions. Gotta wait and see though.

[T Bone]

Anyone know how BMW's February went??

[Jaws]

Originally Posted by T Bone

Anyone know how BMW's February went??

Globally OK.

BMW Group sales in/up to and including February 2008 at a glance
In February 08 comp. w. prev.yr. Up to & incl. Feb.08 comp.w. prev.yr.
BMW Group Automobiles 105,994 +9.0% 198,628 +3.8%
BMW 89,983 +5.5% 167,139 +0.8%
MINI 15,954 +34.0% 31,391 +23.0%
Rolls-Royce 57 +50.0% 98 +55.6%
BMW Motorcycles 6,254 -2.5% 10,565 -5.8%

[Theohiomike]

My Problem with BMW is first I had a M3 and the 335I comes out and its quicker. Then I buy a 335I and the 1 series comes out and its quicker than the 335I.. I just don't get it? Reguardless I love my hard top convertable but next year will be switching to something different if my fuel pump fails a third time. Did I mention the car is only 4 months old.. Did Ford buy Bmw??

[ihyln]

If ford bought BMW then we'd have an X7 that would be crammed down our throats. Then an X7 extended cab super duty.

[swamp2]

Originally Posted by x5love

BMW sales have been going up since adopting the new Bangle design.

Absolutely true. Bangle designs may or may not have been the deciding factor but most do think looks is one of the most important things when purchasing a car.

Footie, as usual your credibility is simply shot with statments like the one that prompted the reply above, get a clue.