Photo: bmw china
Unlike other manufacturers out there that simply want to take the whole dealership experience out of the selling process, BMW goes in a different direction. Of course, the dealerships as we used to know them are now gone just like the cars that used to be sold in them so the new age tech has to be put up on display and sold in a new environment.
Therefore, the company is now looking to implement a new dealership standard and, in this regard, is holding regional meetings to explain what needs to be done (and how much it will cost, of course).
"Anytime the manufacturer brings out a program that involves bricks and mortar and processes and changes, everybody gets antsy with, 'What will it cost me, and what will it entail?'" said Steve Late, chairman of the BMW National Dealer Forum for AutoNews.
"It never fails: Once you have that meeting and that one-on-one and get your questions answered is when the dealers get calm,” he added.
However, there were other issues discussed as well, like the sales of i vehicles that exceeded expectations in a lot of cases. The i3 and i8 demand is still high and BMW has issues covering it, the waiting lists expanding up to one and a half years at the moment.
One of the solutions that is currently being introduced is switching the production lines between the i3 and i8 (that are being manufactured in the same plant in Leipzig) to put together more plug-in hybrid sport cars. This way, the waiting list for the i8 should be shortened from 18 months to 12.
338 dealerships will go through this updating process as part of the BMW Future Retail 2016 program that was introduced last year.
"Anytime the manufacturer brings out a program that involves bricks and mortar and processes and changes, everybody gets antsy with, 'What will it cost me, and what will it entail?'" said Steve Late, chairman of the BMW National Dealer Forum for AutoNews.
"It never fails: Once you have that meeting and that one-on-one and get your questions answered is when the dealers get calm,” he added.
However, there were other issues discussed as well, like the sales of i vehicles that exceeded expectations in a lot of cases. The i3 and i8 demand is still high and BMW has issues covering it, the waiting lists expanding up to one and a half years at the moment.
One of the solutions that is currently being introduced is switching the production lines between the i3 and i8 (that are being manufactured in the same plant in Leipzig) to put together more plug-in hybrid sport cars. This way, the waiting list for the i8 should be shortened from 18 months to 12.
338 dealerships will go through this updating process as part of the BMW Future Retail 2016 program that was introduced last year.
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