Re: oilheads-digest V1 #346

[Jack Bunce <jackbunce@xxxxxxx>]

On Dec 15, 2004, at 4:47 AM, oilheads-digest wrote:

> ...
> This is so surprising. What about the stats that suggest BMW
> keeps increasing volume and market share?
>
> Is the the marketplace or is it BMW corporate squeezing the vise?
> ...

I don't have the latest figures, but for the first nine months of 2004 
worldwide BMW motorcycle unit sales were down 1.9%.  BMW Motorrad 
attributed this to model life-cycle factors.

The good news is that third quarter worldwide BMW motorcycle unit sales 
were up 7.2% over the same period last year.

The bad news is that third quarter U.S. BMW motorcycle unit sales were 
down by 1.6% compared to third quarter 2003.

I don't have a breakdown for overall U.S. BMW motorcycle sales for the 
first nine months of 2004 but my guess is that it is not good.  BMW 
Motorcycle operating profit is (I think) down by about 13.3% for the 
first three quarters of 2004.

NOTE: the stats are from BMW's September 2004 financial report.

So, the general sales climate is the U.S. is poor and a significant 
part of the general squeeze on dealers.

I would bet that BMW is finding it necessary to back away from the 
single brand store concept here in the U.S.A.  It may work for one or 
two established super dealers but I don't think it will work in the 
general case.

In Connecticut, our newest dealer, Cliff's BMW in Danbury, has become 
Cliff's BMW - Aprilia.  Only a small portion of the floor is given over 
to the new line but it is significant since they appeared to be a well 
financed flagship type shop when they opened last year.     It was 
absolutely gorgeous and ideally located in a major market area.  So, 
even though they followed the BMW Motorrad NA party line they still 
found it necessary within a short period of time to make the business 
decision to include at least one additional brand.

Our other Connecticut BMW dealer is Canton Cycles who are located 
within 35 miles of Cliff.  They are a small shop with a good reputation 
who have been around for a long time.  They sell BMW, Victory and 
Triumph motorcycles.  They have a nice, non fancy shop with good 
customer rapport, sound internal cost controls, and good service.

Since BMW has decided that it wants the customer of tomorrow it has 
recognized that it needs to capture the customer of today to reach that 
goal.  To do so it has started to change in the kind of motorcycle it 
will sell: lighter, more powerful, faster,l with even more high tech 
built in.

To succeed It must take customers away from the Japanese brands.  Multi 
line stores can help them do that by offering a potential customer an 
attractive place to shop for a wide variety of motorcycles which are 
essentially different from the ujm machine while still containing those 
elements of the ujm which are responsible for their wide appeal.

cheers.... jack, '04 R1100SA, Waterford, Connecticut, U.S.A.

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