Quote:
Originally Posted by chassis
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- online sales of vehicles are part of BMW's future. Heaven has answered our prayers to be delivered from the evil that is the dealership business model.
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Don't cheer the onset of the online model just yet, especially until we understand the impact this will have on the pricing model. Consider the 'dealer contributions' (a.k.a. discounts). When I shopped for a new, to-be-produced car earlier this year, I was getting anything between 15% (lower spec 5 series) to 22% (7 series). My dad ended up with 18% discount on an X3 (new, custom specced, just got on the ship and it's on its way); I got 36% discount on a 7 series 'demo' (pick up date set for early October)
If such deals remain, I will quickly become a great fan of online; if they're gone, I'll root for the dealerships until the last one of them stands
Also consider that the dealers typically (I agree, not all and not always) do add value to the overall car buying and owning experience. And in time, when you become a returning customer, they do have some extra tricks up their sleeves which you can benefit from - hence strengthening your brand loyalty. For this reason, I expect the dealers to remain in BMW HQ's strategic model; however, I expect lots of tensions on the pricing front (HQ's goal of keeping consistency across channels, to which dealers will oppose fearing dropping volumes)