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      02-04-2020, 10:30 PM   #23
LogicalApex
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Pictor View Post
No doubt BMW has lost sales to Tesla. The question is is this meaningful to be noticeable in the sales figures. The basis of the thread is to ask the question of why is YoY sales down for the 5 down. I don't believe Tesla has had measurable impact -- yet. The exception might be in cities like L.A., San Francisco, Seattle, and other coastal cities. However, SUV's have had a measurable impact across sedans in the market. Now the story does try and draw some connections to BMW sales along with a few anecdotes about BMW loyalty.

Trading in a car of one brand for another doesn't mean that the first brand lost a sale. Here's a personal example, when I was in my 20's, I traded in a used BMW for a new Nissan which I needed for a long commute to a new job. There was no way I could have afforded a new BMW at that point in my life and I wanted something better in the snow (before xDrive was a thing). Did BMW lose a sale to Nissan because I decided to trade in a used BMW for a new Nissan?
Yes, in that scenario BMW did lose a sale. It may not have been a se they cared about at the time (outside of their target market) but it was a lost sale nonetheless. All businesses want repeat customers because those customers are the most profitable for any business.

Tesla is impacting BMW and other luxury brands and will only continue to do so unless BMW and others find a way to modernize and do it sooner than later. Tesla is quickly becoming the brand people want to be seen in and simultaneously aligning themselves with the sustainability culture that younger buyers care a lot about. Tesla hasn’t yet caught up with the interior fit and finish of brands like BMW, but they have leapfrogged them in the technology and performance categories (at least to the extent that matters to the bread and buyer buyers who drive the vehicles on public roads).

I think BMW is on the right path focusing on a common platform that can be flipped from ICE to PHEV to BEV depending on regional and market realities. But they need to get the technology right...
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