BMW's Identity Crisis

[Joaquin Ruhi]

A long but worthwhile read from WardsAuto. Too long to copy-and-paste here, so I'll just provide the link:

http://wardsauto.com/site-files/wardsauto.com/files/uploads/2017/08/WardsAuto-BigStory-0817A.pdf

 

[Gecko]

A lot to take in here, but a great read.

I don't follow BMW that closely but it's interesting to see this article combine so many pieces of the puzzle: declining international sales numbers, the lackluster purchase experience, increasing competitive pressure, growing dealer dissatisfaction, design constraints and others. I didn't realize that there were so many different pain points for the company, but looking at it holistically... I get it now.

From the outside looking in, I do see the points about BMW cars not changing as dramatically as their competitors, but as a caveat, we have Audi which has been producing a lineup that looks largely the same as a decade ago with minimal differences. Mercedes and Lexus in particular have rapidly changed and seen a lot of success because of it. The X5 and X3 never change much, nor do the 3 Series, 5 Series or 7 Series. I guess the big news at BMW has been all new models like the 2 series, X4, X6 and others... but those are mostly all niche vehicles. The core vehicles either haven't changed or haven't changed enough.

Another point, BMWs aren't cheap and we all know that, but I guess people aren't willing to spend as much money on a BMW as they are on a Mercedes. Hard to blame them really - I'd rather have an S Class over a 7, E Class over a 5, GLC over an X3 and the list goes on. When BMW loses their pricing parody with Mercedes, they're sinking down to the likes of Lexus, Cadillac and others who are priced CONSIDERABLY less expensive... so maybe BMW is sitting in no man's land right now.

BMW has been in this position of trying to pay some type of homage to their "Ultimate Driving Machine" glory days while also bending to the whims of a market that wants more tech, more features, more luxury and more ground clearance. As much as we pick on Lexus here at times, when you look at vehicles like the NX, RX, LS and LC, it's pretty clear that Lexus has their finger on what consumer's want. Mercedes even moreso, and Audi has hit a stride that is resonating with consumers. BMW just hasn't evolved as much and I do believe that interior design is a big part of it. BMW interiors always look like a mere refresh of the last model despite how much has changed with chassis, powertrains and more. I think more drastic changes are needed and probably a consolidation of some less popular models to put resources into larger changes for volume models.

Great article - thanks for sharing.

 

[CIF]

A lot to take in here, but a great read.

I don't follow BMW that closely but it's interesting to see this article combine so many pieces of the puzzle: declining international sales numbers, the lackluster purchase experience, increasing competitive pressure, growing dealer dissatisfaction, design constraints and others. I didn't realize that there were so many different pain points for the company, but looking at it holistically... I get it now.

From the outside looking in, I do see the points about BMW cars not changing as dramatically as their competitors, but as a caveat, we have Audi which has been producing a lineup that looks largely the same as a decade ago with minimal differences. Mercedes and Lexus in particular have rapidly changed and seen a lot of success because of it. The X5 and X3 never change much, nor do the 3 Series, 5 Series or 7 Series. I guess the big news at BMW has been all new models like the 2 series, X4, X6 and others... but those are mostly all niche vehicles. The core vehicles either haven't changed or haven't changed enough.

Another point, BMWs aren't cheap and we all know that, but I guess people aren't willing to spend as much money on a BMW as they are on a Mercedes. Hard to blame them really - I'd rather have an S Class over a 7, E Class over a 5, GLC over an X3 and the list goes on. When BMW loses their pricing parody with Mercedes, they're sinking down to the likes of Lexus, Cadillac and others who are priced CONSIDERABLY less expensive... so maybe BMW is sitting in no man's land right now.

BMW has been in this position of trying to pay some type of homage to their "Ultimate Driving Machine" glory days while also bending to the whims of a market that wants more tech, more features, more luxury and more ground clearance. As much as we pick on Lexus here at times, when you look at vehicles like the NX, RX, LS and LC, it's pretty clear that Lexus has their finger on what consumer's want. Mercedes even moreso, and Audi has hit a stride that is resonating with consumers. BMW just hasn't evolved as much and I do believe that interior design is a big part of it. BMW interiors always look like a mere refresh of the last model despite how much has changed with chassis, powertrains and more. I think more drastic changes are needed and probably a consolidation of some less popular models to put resources into larger changes for volume models.

Great article - thanks for sharing.

Pretty much exactly what I was thinking, great post.

I will add however that I wouldn't give too much credit and praise to Mercedes and Audi. Mercedes deserves most of it yes, I agree, as they truly have brought to market some large leaps forward in terms of luxury and useful technology. Many of the criticisms and problems with BMW I would say directly apply to Audi as well. I expect to see Audi struggling soon eventually. They cannot keep pulling a BMW with the same ho-hum styling and interiors and expect to keep competitive in the market. Not to mention the on-going troubles of the VW Group due to dieselgate. That's besides the potential problems that all of the German Big 3 may face from the developing collusion story.