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Sedans Luxury Performance Sedans
10007 messages, Last post on Dec 01, 2009 at 7:40 AM
You are in the Sedans Forum. Your Hosts are pat & karens
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When people say they want a BMW, they understand they are buying a car with certain characteristics. This is no different than saying: "I want a Lexus". Voila - instant brand identification. This is the so-called brand prestige. In order to earn repeat business the manufacturers must keep giving the customers what they want. With the introduction of the new E60, I would think if people didn't like the car they would have jumped ship. BMW must have hit upon a winning formula inspite of the nay-sayers view of the contrary. I'm really shocked at the E class numbers. With some of the doom and gloom talk about Mercedes on these boards at Edmunds, it would seem the buying public wouldn't want one if they were paid to take one. |
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Replying to: dan339g (Aug 23, 2005 12:24 pm) |
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Replying to: lexusguy (Sep 04, 2005 12:47 am) A lot of people still wouldn't recognize an Infiniti, if it bit them.. That doesn't mean it isn't a comparable or even better car... regards, kyfdx Host-- Prices Paid Forums
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Replying to: sacguy (Sep 03, 2005 6:33 pm) Yes, there's a definite disconnect between these sales and the recommendations of the car mags, etc. You would think buyers of MB and BMW would be avid readers and followers of auto tests. But, true, prestige (and traditional buying habits) are important here. I'm also surprised at the continuing high sales of the GS (mainly the GS300) which was really panned by Consumer Reports, and then panned again in their most recent issue, labeled "a disappointment," etc., etc. |
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Replying to: kyfdx (Sep 04, 2005 6:37 am) To me the decision process is the same as buying a house. You know the market, you know the comps and you make a decison based on your variables.
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Replying to: kdshapiro (Sep 04, 2005 7:10 am) Plus... they don't have dealers in a lot of the medium-sized cities.. I'll use Evansville, IN as an example.... Lexus and BMW both have dealerships there.. Over an hour away for Infiniti.. You can get a BMW in Bowling Green, KY, the home of the Corvette, but you have to go to Louisville or Nashville for an Infiniti.. That has to affect sales numbers.. I'm sure I could find hundreds of similar examples.. I think you are over-estimating the knowledge and interest of the average buyer.. The typical buyer doesn't read C&D, research their car on the internet, etc.. You do that.. I do that.. Most of the members of Edmunds do that... But, we are a very small percentage of the buying public, even for luxury cars.. In other words, sales numbers mean nothing in regards to the relative value of the cars... If GM puts out a crummy car (  ), it will still sell 100K copies, just because of the superior availability and distribution.. regards, kyfdx Host--Prices Paid Forums
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Replying to: sacguy (Sep 03, 2005 6:33 pm) |
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Replying to: kyfdx (Sep 04, 2005 7:38 am) "If GM puts out a crummy car ( ), it will still sell 100K copies, " If GM is changed to BMW/Mercedes/Acura/Infiniti/Audi in the above that statement would not hold true. GM has conditioned the American people that it generally sells "crummy" cars. The LPS lot has conditioned the people they sell premium cars. People do know the difference.
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Replying to: kdshapiro (Sep 04, 2005 7:49 am) Imagine what the M's numbers would be if they had a similar dealership network as BMW, Lexus, or MB. |
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The Queen City (not counting Dayton, the Gem City to our north) has one Infiniti Dealer and two Audi Dealers (just to use an example.) While I can NOW hardly go one single day without seeing a "new" A6, I can go two weeks without seeing an Infiniti M35 or 45, sometimes even more. Our lone Infiniti dealer is on our "north east" side of town, the two Audi dealers are on the north and "far eastern" sides of the city. One of the Audi dealerships has recently moved to a new $7,000,000 facility and car sales have increased from an average of 30 cars per month to 50 cars per month (mostly A4's I would guess.) Plenty of 2000 - 2004 A6's are around. Infinitis, other than G35's are pretty few and far between. For the record, I live on the north east side of the city and I would imagine someone on the south or west side would have to really really be motivated to buy an Infiniti M since it is possible for the distance to the dealer for some folks to be as far as 40 to 60 miles. Cincinnati, then, probably has had more Audi (A6) sales than Infiniti (M) sales -- but perhaps because, in part, to a phenom known as "distance decay." I can't prove it, but it would seem that if there were additional Infiniti dealerships (even one more) that the number of M sightings would increase. The fact that the simple moving of the Audi dealership (one of them) some 16+ miles to the east has raised sales from 30 to 50 per month is an impressive feat. Someone somewhere knows, for instance, how many BMW dealer locations are here in the US -- ditto for the other LPS cars. Cadillac, despite its sheer number of dealerships does NOT quite (yet) jump to the top of the list of LUX/PERF cars at least in the crowd that I frequent (30 - 50 somethings, married, degreed, professionals.) Usually (in this woefully inadequate group) Japanese cars of any pedigree (Lexus probably gets a pass -- and we do have more than one Lexus outlet here in greater Cincinnati/Northern KY) need not apply. But, to fully disclose for those who don't know, Cincinnati is a GERMAN city with an annual Oktoberfest that is said to be second only to the one in Munich -- so our somewhat German car LPS bias (over the Japanese contenders) is not all that shocking. A drive through the upper middle class neighborhoods here often finds lots of BMW's, Mercedes and Audis -- not to overlook the Volvos, VW's and the countless SUV's and mini-vans (from all manufacturers, perhaps notably Honda, Toyota and DC.) Despite my personal belief that Audi's A6 "ought" to sell better than at last place -- perhaps, as suggested above, distance decay and market penetration do indeed play a significant role. In contrast, one of the BMW dealers here in our fair city is the largest in the state of Ohio and at an orientation for new owners meeting, they disclosed they sell 1300 new cars per year (and there are two Cincinnati based dealerships in town.) One of the BMW dealerships is owned by a mega dealer group (as at least one of the Audi dealers NOW is) -- and much as I personally like the family owned dealer atmosphere, perhaps mega dealers do, despite their often impersonal auras, "move more product." Lee I. himself says "the most important part is 'the deal'," perhaps has if to say, moreso than "the cars" themselves.
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