BMW wants to completely reorganize the sale of its vehicles: In the future, customers will also be able to buy the cars they want online.
Why?
Munich – Individually configuring a suitable new car: most car buyers have been doing this online for a long time.
BMW now wants you to be able to buy the car directly there – without going to the dealer, but also without a discount.
This direct sales via the network, which Tesla has been practicing for years, should start as early as 2024 at the BMW subsidiary Mini, and at BMW from 2026. But what does that mean for customers?
And what traders?
And why is BMW going this route?
That explains BMW sales manager Pieter Nota.
Mr. Nota, BMW intends to sell its cars directly via the Internet soon.
How will things work in the future when you buy a BMW?
Until now, you always had to go to the dealer to buy a car.
That's going to change.
Soon you will be able to sit comfortably on your sofa in the evening, configure a car and order it directly from home.
Does that mean the dealer will then become superfluous?
No, not every customer wants to buy their car online.
That's why you can continue to order in parallel via the dealer or involve him in certain steps.
With direct sales, we will be offering both options in the future.
How exactly do you have to imagine that?
For example, you will be able to configure the car online and send your configuration to a dealer who will give the customer specific advice.
After that you can still make changes together.
Most customers also want to see and drive the car at least once, which will continue to be possible through our trading partners.
At the latest, however, the customer comes into contact with the retailer upon delivery.
Therefore, when buying directly online, at the end of the order he must specify a BMW dealership from whom he would like to pick up his car.
This is then used to order.
The customer therefore has the choice of how far he involves the retailer.
We expect that in the near future a quarter of our vehicles will be bought directly via the internet.
So there remains an intermediary?
Yes.
This dealer also gets the commission for the car sold.
How high will these commissions be?
This is a matter between us and the traders that we do not want to comment on publicly.
But it is so high that traders can live with it.
They still have the order from us to look after their area and sell cars on site.
The more, the better they earn.
In the past, one of the reasons people went to the dealer was because they could negotiate the price for their car.
does it stay that way
There will be no more haggling at the merchant.
In future, all customers will pay the same price for the same BMW.
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BMW Sales Manager Pieter Nota
© BMW AG
Don't you think that will annoy a lot of customers?
I don't think so.
Of course there are always people who like to negotiate.
However, we know from surveys that the vast majority of customers do not like haggling at all.
After the purchase, you have the bad feeling that the neighbor got a better price.
That will no longer be the case because every customer gets the same product at the same price.
We think that's the way it should be for a premium product.
So everyone always pays the list price?
Does this make it more expensive for customers to buy a BMW?
Not necessarily.
We will put competitive prices.
Also, prices are not fixed forever.
They are subject to change depending on market conditions.
Does that mean list prices will go down in the future?
So far, there has certainly still been a margin for the retailer, right?
I can't yet say how we will price the products from 2024 or 2026 onwards.
Incidentally, we are not concerned with savings or additional income, but with offering the best customer experience in the industry.
They will start direct sales at BMW in 2026 and at MINI in 2024.
That's in eight months.
How are the preparations going?
With Mini, we are in the middle of the test phase and well prepared to start with the first markets in Europe in January 2024.
We also switched to direct sales for Mini in China on March 1st.
It works well there too.
Where will there not be direct sales?
For example in the USA, there are legal reasons for that.
Did you actually copy internet sales from Tesla?
Unlike us, Tesla has hardly any dealers and far fewer individual equipment options for its vehicles.
This is why BMW will differentiate itself positively from Tesla with our model, which continues to focus on advice and individualization.
How are retailers reacting to the changeover?
We have been walking this path together for a year and have included our partners from the start.
That paid off, because retailers support it across the board.
We offer an attractive business model for retailers.
We calculated the commission very carefully.
The dealer also minimizes his risks, he no longer has to keep vehicles available at his own expense.
The service business will remain as before.
The service is an important source of income for the merchants.
But it could also go down because e-cars require less maintenance, right?
E-cars are more complex, which is why customers do not switch to independent workshops after a few years but, in our experience, continue to come to authorized dealers.
What happens to the data that customers leave online when they make a purchase?
The data first belongs to the customer and the customer can determine what happens to it.
However, the customer also has many advantages by sharing certain data.
For example, we can also contact him when a service is due and thus prevent problems.
And we as the manufacturer ensure that data protection and data security are guaranteed.
List of rubrics: © BMW AG