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http://www.autonews.com/article/20170206/OEM02/302069933/bmw-shores-up-leadership-as-u-s-sales-sag
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2017/02/bmw-new-usa-ceo-sales-slide-incentives-soar/After two years heading BMW's importer markets, Bernhard Kuhnt goes from overseeing business in more than 80 countries to just one -- the United States, a key market where sales in the past year have lagged rivals Mercedes-Benz and Lexus.
BMW last week named Kuhnt, 49, to become CEO of BMW of North America effective March 1. He replaces Ludwig Willisch, 60, who continues as head of BMW Group Region Americas, a position he had held since 2012 alongside his U.S. role. Kuhnt and the operating heads of all BMW sales subsidiaries in North, Central and South America report to Willisch.
The move could be a precursor to Willisch's retirement. BMW's top executives typically retire between the ages of 60 and 62. Willisch took over the U.S. market in 2011 and indicated to some upon his arrival that the U.S. role would be his final assignment before retirement.
Sales rose steadily during his tenure until hitting a roadblock in 2016.
BMW's U.S. brand sales dropped 9.5 percent to 313,174 vehicles in 2016 -- well behind Mercedes-Benz's 340,237 luxury-vehicle deliveries and Lexus' 331,228 deliveries. While BMW sales were up 0.1 percent to 18,109 vehicles in January -- good for second place among luxury brands -- they were still far behind Mercedes-Benz's 25,527 deliveries.
Interview requests with both Willisch and Kuhnt were declined. In a statement, Willisch welcomed Kuhnt to the U.S. role.
"Bernhard brings many years of experience in the global automotive industry to his new role here in the United States," Willisch said.
In addition to the change at CEO, BMW also announced that Petter Witt, who has been executive vice president of operations for BMW of North America, will leave his position at the end of February.
Witt will join Holman Automotive, a privately owned dealership group based in Mount Laurel, N.J., as platform vice president, Northeast. A Holman statement said Witt will be responsible for Holman's 10 stores in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
In his new position as CEO, Kuhnt will appoint a successor to Witt.
Kuhnt, a native of Germany, already is familiar with the U.S. market. From 1983 to 2003, he worked for Mercedes-Benz including a stint as vice president of sales for Mercedes-Benz USA overseeing divisions in Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles. From 2003 to 2009, he headed Mercedes-Benz dealerships in Anaheim, Calif., and Chandler, Ariz. He joined Jaguar Land Rover in 2009 and was hired by BMW Group at the beginning of 2015.
Coming off the 2016 sales decline, the move should enable Willisch to delegate some of the direct responsibility for the U.S. market to Kuhnt, said Stephanie Brinley, analyst with IHS Markit.
"Bringing in Kuhnt as part of Willisch's management team means that Willisch gets the advantage of having a fresh set of eyes, as it were, to help find areas for improvement or new approaches that might improve sales," Brinley told Automotive News.
The change isn't surprising, said Rebecca Lindland, senior analyst for Kelley Blue Book.
"This is a very typical move for BMW executives after serving for five-plus years," Lindland said.
Hmmm...has there been a rotation of Lexus' General Manager as of late?Bernhard Kuhnt takes over as the chief executive officer of BMW’s U.S. outpost on March 1, Automotive News reports, replacing BMW’s western hemisphere boss, Ludwig Willisch, who is likely to retire by the end of the decade.
BMW sales grew year after year during Willisch’s tenure, reaching annual records in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. There were, at times, questionable tactics employed to maintain rapid growth.
Yet in 2016, as U.S. auto sales shot to record levels, BMW’s U.S. volume plunged by more than 9 percent. In 12 consecutive months, U.S. sales declined on year-over-year terms. At BMW’s Mini brand, three years after volume climbed to record levels in 2013, sales fell to a six-year low in 2016.
And yet no automaker is incentivizing to such a lofty degree.
Coinciding with Bernhard Kuhnt’s installation in the top post, former vice president for operations, Petter Witt, has moved on to other opportunities with a New Jersey-based 10-store dealer group, Holman Automotive. Kuhnt leaves a role in which he had his fingers in BMW’s sales operations in 80-plus markets, but he has extensive U.S. experience. Kuhnt worked in sales for Mercedes-Benz for more than 25 years before a six-year stint at Jaguar Land Rover.
Kuhnt is now tasked with turning around a greatly suffering brand as consumers turn away from passenger cars. In 2016, while U.S. car sales fell 9 percent, BMW’s car volume plunged 21 percent. The 3 Series and 4 Series, long BMW’s security blanket, combined to lose more than 34,000 sales compared with 2015. The 5 Series, 6 Series, i3, i8, and Z4 all posted additional declines.
All auto brands are now faced with the task of shifting production and inventory levels to meet a shift in demand. BMW utility vehicle volume increased in 2016, but not nearly enough to make up for the dearth of car sales. X4, X5, and X6 sales actually decreased in 2016, as well.
But the shift is underway. BMW has contracted out production of the surging X1, the entry-level crossover, to VDL Nedcar in the Netherlands. Dutch production of the X1 will begin in August and boost supply of a model that accounted for 21 percent of BMW USA’s SAV volume in 2016, up from 12 percent one year before. December, with 4,185 X1 sales, was BMW USA’s best-ever month for X1 volume. Of BMW’s five utility vehicles, the X1 is the only one not assembled in South Carolina.
Across great swathes of the BMW lineup, however, significant discounts are required to move metal. In January 2017, for instance, BMW finally broke the 12-month-long streak of declining sales — with a 0.1-percent, 27-unit uptick — partly due to an average $6,016 in incentives per vehicle sale, according to ALG. To be fair, BMW’s average transaction prices, at $48,732 in January, are among the highest in the industry. Thus, BMW’s incentive spend as a percentage of average transaction price in January was still lower than FCA, GM, Kia, Nissan, and the Volkswagen Group.
Still, BMW’s average incentive spend jumped 44 percent, year-over-year, and the average transaction price slid 3 percent.
A number of factors conspired for BMW to need new U.S. leadership in early 2017. Regardless of the background, Bernhard Kuhnt has his work cut out for him. For the time being, Ludwig Willisch continues in his position at the top of the heap for BMW Group Region Americas.
As for the operations position vacated by Petter Witt, a statement from BMW Personnel says, “Bernhard Kuhnt will have a clear priority to appoint a successor for this position in the period ahead.”
