Whether a BMW fan or basher, we all must admit that the brand has pretty much all it takes to be more successful with each passing year. The motorcycle division of the Bavarian manufacturer has surfaced some figures obtained from a recent survey carried out by the Motorcycle Industry Council (MIC) in the USA, showing the level of customer satisfaction… and the BMW machines are on top.
50,303 respondents who had purchased a new bike between September 1st 2012 and June 30th 2013have taken part in the survey, BWM reports. Skipping the marketing purpose of this announcement, I just have to link the figures I’m about to reproduce below with some of the results of a similar survey carried out by the Consumer Reports National Research Center. While some fellows claim that the data the CRNRC gathered across the mentioned 4-year study is highly irrelevant, I believe we’ll all agree that it simply cannot be completely irrelevant.
On the other hand, the MIC study tells us that “BMW Motorrad ranked first in the category of production quality, with customers giving a particularly high rating to finish, engine and power transmission, suspension, brakes and controls. The warranty and guarantee category was also won by BMW Motorrad.”
What the MIC study basically says is that BMW customers are very happy with their bikes, and this is coherent with the customer satisfaction-related figures revealed by the CRNRC survey. The former study mentions that 75% or the Harley-Davidson and 74% of the BMW customers would buy the same brand if they had to do it all over again.
Good for them, and even better for the manufacturers! However, what the CRNRC revealed was exactly the same duo which led in the problem charts. H-D and BMW customers had reported encountering the biggest number of problems and this caused the Consumer Reports to deem these two brands as being the least reliable.
Such a claim is invalid in the absence of more comprehensive data, with the number of miles traveled being one of the key elements needed before any generic labeling could be done. Honestly, it’s hard to believe that a Yamaha R1 can compare the number or miles travelled in 4 years with what a BMW R1200RT’s odometer would clock.
The math is quite simple: the less one rides, the fewer problems the bike is likely to have. Even more, data regarding the riding conditions would also be important, as one cannot simply compare a day at the race track with a one-week trip around several states, encountering all sorts of roads and maybe with some trail riding involved.
The Consumer Reports National Research Center says that the most problems have been detected in the touring segment, which usually means bikes travelling quite a lot. It would be extremely interesting to have some more in-depth statistic data so that we could determine the type of problem occurring each number of travelled miles, the repair costs and finding a balance between them.
That is, understanding the customer satisfaction level using a more complex instrument than simply asking whether one is happy with one’s bike or not. For example, a customer having to change the oil and the oil filter after having ridden 5000 miles from mid-summer until winter might see the expense (even if these are mandatory maintenance expenses and not defects) as more justified than a guy who rode, let’s say, 2000 miles on his superbike and who also is supposed to do the same operation in the fall or the next spring. It’s easy to tell that the former rider will be much happier with his or her bike, than the latter one… And this is only scraping the surface when it comes to understanding what customer satisfaction can be broken down into.
Even more, the US market also has two distinct characteristics: the “patriotic pride” and the “overseas pride”. That is, a lot of customers buy American bikes because they are American and are fine with them even they’re not fine with them, if you catch my drift.
Far from thinking about bashing some riders, I just happened to talk to guys who admitted that they could have made better choices than the Harleys they rode, in terms of maintenance and running costs, comfort and all… but they were very happy with the way things were, and owning a Harley seemed to pay off.
Whether speaking about affordable machines such as the small Sportster or the more expensive ones, most of these customers are going to declare they’re happy with their bikes.
On the other hand, it’s the magic allure of riding a European bike, and which is much like driving a European car, be it Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Alfa Romeo and all. Even if it breaks down every now and then, it’s still a piece of machinery from across the pond and this makes up for almost anything in certain cases.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to say that H-D and BMWs are crap bikes and their owners are a bunch of idiots who can’t see beyond the badges and the branded apparel and accessories. BMW and H-D customers are common folk, like you and me, who have made a decision as to which bike they would like to ride. Going for a certain brand is a voluntary act, just like deciding to get rid of a bike and buy another brand.
But, there’s that “je ne sais quoi” about several particular bikes, which seems to enthrall the riders and hold them as “prisoners”, at least at a sentimental level. Unlike the accessories in case of motorcycles or purchased apps in case of Apple customers (you can read more on the matter in this autoevolution editorial), this “captivity” is more like a sweet surrender, and from where I stand, this is a very good measure of a successful bike manufacturer.
As a manufacturer, the moment a customer is recommending your bike to his or her friends, even though the machine turned out to be a tad more prone to certain types of faults or defects, is a time for the laurel wreath. And when the same customer says he’d buy again from you, it’s mission accomplished time, again, as this means that you’ve got more than a customer: you’ve got a follower.
Now, what exactly makes a handful of bike manufacturers so beloved is another story, and it definitely has nothing to do with labels such as the “best bike,”, the “most beautiful,” “most comfortable,” or “most reliable.” It looks like attachment to a specific brand relies on more than generalizations, and more than the (undeniable) power of marketing. It probably has to do with the feeling of being part of a certain community, and being able to experience and share the mojo a bike manufacturer discovered and embedded in its bikes.
And from now on, it’s about making bikes and selling that mojo.
On the other hand, the MIC study tells us that “BMW Motorrad ranked first in the category of production quality, with customers giving a particularly high rating to finish, engine and power transmission, suspension, brakes and controls. The warranty and guarantee category was also won by BMW Motorrad.”
What the MIC study basically says is that BMW customers are very happy with their bikes, and this is coherent with the customer satisfaction-related figures revealed by the CRNRC survey. The former study mentions that 75% or the Harley-Davidson and 74% of the BMW customers would buy the same brand if they had to do it all over again.
Good for them, and even better for the manufacturers! However, what the CRNRC revealed was exactly the same duo which led in the problem charts. H-D and BMW customers had reported encountering the biggest number of problems and this caused the Consumer Reports to deem these two brands as being the least reliable.
Such a claim is invalid in the absence of more comprehensive data, with the number of miles traveled being one of the key elements needed before any generic labeling could be done. Honestly, it’s hard to believe that a Yamaha R1 can compare the number or miles travelled in 4 years with what a BMW R1200RT’s odometer would clock.
The math is quite simple: the less one rides, the fewer problems the bike is likely to have. Even more, data regarding the riding conditions would also be important, as one cannot simply compare a day at the race track with a one-week trip around several states, encountering all sorts of roads and maybe with some trail riding involved.
The Consumer Reports National Research Center says that the most problems have been detected in the touring segment, which usually means bikes travelling quite a lot. It would be extremely interesting to have some more in-depth statistic data so that we could determine the type of problem occurring each number of travelled miles, the repair costs and finding a balance between them.
That is, understanding the customer satisfaction level using a more complex instrument than simply asking whether one is happy with one’s bike or not. For example, a customer having to change the oil and the oil filter after having ridden 5000 miles from mid-summer until winter might see the expense (even if these are mandatory maintenance expenses and not defects) as more justified than a guy who rode, let’s say, 2000 miles on his superbike and who also is supposed to do the same operation in the fall or the next spring. It’s easy to tell that the former rider will be much happier with his or her bike, than the latter one… And this is only scraping the surface when it comes to understanding what customer satisfaction can be broken down into.
Even more, the US market also has two distinct characteristics: the “patriotic pride” and the “overseas pride”. That is, a lot of customers buy American bikes because they are American and are fine with them even they’re not fine with them, if you catch my drift.
Far from thinking about bashing some riders, I just happened to talk to guys who admitted that they could have made better choices than the Harleys they rode, in terms of maintenance and running costs, comfort and all… but they were very happy with the way things were, and owning a Harley seemed to pay off.
Whether speaking about affordable machines such as the small Sportster or the more expensive ones, most of these customers are going to declare they’re happy with their bikes.
On the other hand, it’s the magic allure of riding a European bike, and which is much like driving a European car, be it Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Alfa Romeo and all. Even if it breaks down every now and then, it’s still a piece of machinery from across the pond and this makes up for almost anything in certain cases.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to say that H-D and BMWs are crap bikes and their owners are a bunch of idiots who can’t see beyond the badges and the branded apparel and accessories. BMW and H-D customers are common folk, like you and me, who have made a decision as to which bike they would like to ride. Going for a certain brand is a voluntary act, just like deciding to get rid of a bike and buy another brand.
But, there’s that “je ne sais quoi” about several particular bikes, which seems to enthrall the riders and hold them as “prisoners”, at least at a sentimental level. Unlike the accessories in case of motorcycles or purchased apps in case of Apple customers (you can read more on the matter in this autoevolution editorial), this “captivity” is more like a sweet surrender, and from where I stand, this is a very good measure of a successful bike manufacturer.
As a manufacturer, the moment a customer is recommending your bike to his or her friends, even though the machine turned out to be a tad more prone to certain types of faults or defects, is a time for the laurel wreath. And when the same customer says he’d buy again from you, it’s mission accomplished time, again, as this means that you’ve got more than a customer: you’ve got a follower.
Now, what exactly makes a handful of bike manufacturers so beloved is another story, and it definitely has nothing to do with labels such as the “best bike,”, the “most beautiful,” “most comfortable,” or “most reliable.” It looks like attachment to a specific brand relies on more than generalizations, and more than the (undeniable) power of marketing. It probably has to do with the feeling of being part of a certain community, and being able to experience and share the mojo a bike manufacturer discovered and embedded in its bikes.
And from now on, it’s about making bikes and selling that mojo.
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