Quote:
Originally Posted by BMWrules7
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jason
Updated with statement from BMW
Ultimate Delivery Experience Continues in SC as Sun Sets on European Delivery
European Program to Begin Phasing Out Operations in May
"As the global market has evolved and BMW NA sales volumes have shifted more heavily towards SAVs during the past several years, the Performance Center Delivery in Spartanburg, South Carolina has seen continuing growth. Since its beginning in 1999, Performance Center Delivery has grown to more than 28,000 vehicle deliveries, while European Delivery, which has delivered approximately 30,000 vehicles since the 1970s, has experienced a significant decline in participation. Although BMW NA has historically represented an average of 2,000 European Deliveries annually, such deliveries have declined in recent years to under 500. Based on these trends and long-term evaluation, BMW Group will end the European Delivery Program in 2020 and cease accepting reservations as of May 18, 2020.
Our delivery programs have always provided owners with the opportunity to expand their BMW ownership experience and while BMW Group is ending the European operation due to declining global demand, we are proud to continue offering the Ultimate Delivery Experience to our customers through the Performance Center in Spartanburg," said April Vigilante, department head, corporate & special sales, BMW NA. "We encourage all centers to leverage this exciting program to immerse customers in the culture of BMW at the Zentrum, explore the factory and experience the 'Ultimate Driving Machine' on the track."
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What a stupid, short sighted decision to stop European Delivery.
ED customers are BMW's loyalty royalty.
The only dumber decision I heard was BMW getting out of combustion engines.
It's all about the perception.
While only 500 people take part in ED, 5000 customers stay loyal to the brand with hopes to participate.
They don't call it a loss leader because you make huge profits. |
BMW cancelling ED was not a quick or haste decision. They had many people working on various financial models to come to this conclusion. As much as we like to put ourselves on pedestals, we enthusiasts only make up a small fraction of sales.
You used 5000 as a marker for customers that may defect (first off, I don't think it will be that many, but let's still use this number). The X5 alone, sells a little bit under 5000 each month. With some months having higher sales that 5000. Total 2019 X5 sales was over 54,000. With the new X5, BMW sold almost 10000 more than the previous 2018 generation. So that's a net increase of 5000 individuals. Thus far, BMW knows what they're doing and it's actually improving their numbers, either with enthusiasts or not.
https://carsalesbase.com/us-bmw-x5/
BMW still builds fun and sport vehicles because they have enthusiasts running the company and passionate engineers. But even they realize increasing BMW market share and profitability is BMW's number one concern. After all, without growth and increased revenue, they would be out of a job.