Businessweek: Mercedes and BMW Hit Hardest by Slump
#17
I'm surprised the original article did not mention the unique problem that BMW of North America is facing. For years they subsidized the lease on BMW's by holding to artificially high residual values. Now these lease units are coming back into a depressed market leaving them holding the bag. Even if BMW in Europe made money selling small cars, BMW North America would still be in trouble. Lexus refused to play these games just to keep market share, so they should be in better shape when the US market recovers.
Steve
Steve
#18
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The article is really repeating old news. They WILL have to merge or they will merge with someone eventually. Their financials are not solid at all, steel prices are rising, the German labor market is expensive and they are not selling enough cars. Their biggest market, America, is a lease market and as oldcajun has stated, its bit them in the ***.
I hope for continued success for them but Audi is posed to kick maybe everyones *** if they continue to keep it up.
#19
The article is really repeating old news.
#20
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BMW has to continue to diversify and sell more, the new X1 for instance will help.
#22
As much as I appreciate BMW and MB churning out new products, and some of their products are truly great, I don't know if they are doing themselves a favor by having that many products. This concerns MB mostly, they have too many low volume sellers at this point. When you're selling 300-600 units of a particular model per month, you're not profiting that much. And I'm not talking about high priced AMG models either.
#23
Mercedes and BMW will be fine.
#24
Yes in the US market, but in the also large European market both size and price come into play as explained in my examples.
#26
As much as I appreciate BMW and MB churning out new products, and some of their products are truly great, I don't know if they are doing themselves a favor by having that many products. This concerns MB mostly, they have too many low volume sellers at this point. When you're selling 300-600 units of a particular model per month, you're not profiting that much. And I'm not talking about high priced AMG models either.
#27
These so call low volume sellers are what makes BMW and MB what they are today. They are the companies flagship cars, it is what makes them truely a teir one luxury car maker. If they stop making these low volume sellers, they might as well just hang up and wave a white flag. That was the case with Acura when they stop making the NSX and thats why Lexus is making the LF-A.
#28
I agree that the variety is what helps the German automakers be successful. Luxury autos are (arguably) all about choice. Whether it's having 4-5 SUV or near SUV choices (X1, X3, X5, X6, 5GT) or having the ability to build your car to spec (interior/exterior) it's all about choice. That's the one thing that Lexus is really lacking IMO. When people post up the promotional material that Lexus Japan has I get a little peeved. They have several different leather and wood options while the US generally has 3 - beige, gray, or black with wood choices dependent on the interior color. Yes it saves money, but I know I would've splurged and gotten a dark gray wood over the red wood I have in my IS
#29
I agree that the variety is what helps the German automakers be successful. Luxury autos are (arguably) all about choice. Whether it's having 4-5 SUV or near SUV choices (X1, X3, X5, X6, 5GT) or having the ability to build your car to spec (interior/exterior) it's all about choice. That's the one thing that Lexus is really lacking IMO. When people post up the promotional material that Lexus Japan has I get a little peeved. They have several different leather and wood options while the US generally has 3 - beige, gray, or black with wood choices dependent on the interior color. Yes it saves money, but I know I would've splurged and gotten a dark gray wood over the red wood I have in my IS
#30
The problem is; several of those new BMW/Mercedes products turned out to be sales duds, were unnecessary, and/or were a waste of company time and resources. The Mercedes R-Class, GLK, and BMW X6 are prime examples.