The Munich-based carmaker looks to the future with confidence after the decline in sales last year.
At the same time, the group is drawing lessons from the corona lockdowns.
The
corona
pandemic has also hit car manufacturers hard.
The lockdowns in particular made manufacturers painfully aware of the central role of
car dealerships
.
BMW
is now drawing the consequences.
Our free economic newsletter regularly provides you with all relevant news from the economy.
Click here for registration.
Munich - The Munich-based car maker
BMW
wants to significantly reorganize its sales in the coming years.
By 2025, the Bavarians want to sell every fourth car online - without touching it, without test drive.
The group is thus drawing the conclusions from the two lockdowns during the
corona
pandemic.
Many younger customers are already taking advantage of the opportunity to order their new vehicle online, said
BMW
sales director
Pieter Nota
on Friday in Munich.
The corona pandemic has promoted the desire to buy a car without contact.
“There is widespread interest and we expect it to stay that way.” That is why
BMW is
investing
a three-digit million amount annually in the digitization of marketing and sales until 2025.
Together with the car dealers,
BMW is
offering
customers an individually configured car for purchase completely online and delivering it to their front door, said Nota.
“That will continue to run through our dealers.” At the same time, the high-margin business is being expanded significantly with additional services that can be activated at a later date: the customer can activate a steering wheel heater, driver assistance, light or sound packages that are already installed in the car ex works for a limited or unlimited period of time let, digitally "over the air".
Other manufacturers are also promoting the subsequent activation of additional equipment.
Last year, Bayern
BMW
suffered a sales decline of 8.4 percent to 2.325 million cars.
For the current year, however, the sales director expects to see “profitable” growth again.
The Group expects strong growth in vehicles with alternative drives in particular.
In the case of hybrids, sales should increase by half, and sales of pure electric vehicles should even double.
Nota left it open whether the sales figures can reach the level of 2019 again.
In the pre-Corona year, Bayern had set another record with 2.538 million units.
BMW: Car manufacturer is facing difficult weeks
However, the next few weeks could be
challenging
for
BMW
.
Car manufacturers worldwide are complaining about shortages in semiconductors.
Arch-rival
Mercedes-Benz
has already announced short-time work due to a lack of electronic components.
Even
VW
and
Audi
have to cut back production.
At
BMW
it is said that production is secured until the end of January.
"But of course
BMW is
not uncoupled from global developments," a spokesman told
Merkur.de
on Friday
.