Thursday, September 19, 2013

BMW dealership inventory breakdown

Remember when BMW sold just the 3-, 5-, and 7-Series? And maybe the 6-Series briefly, and a few Ms? Now, the carmaker seems to sell an infinite number of configurations. This led me to ask, how does a typical dealership stock all of these different cars? Is it even possible?

I am using Weatherford BMW in Berkeley as an example. It is a good sized dealership with large turnover. The categories I have listed are based on BMW USA's official website. Weatherford has 132 new (2013 and 2014) cars in its current inventory:

1-Series Coupe: 10
1-Series Convertible: 0
1-Series ActiveE: 0
3-Series Sedan: 47
3-Series ActiveHybrid: 0
3-Series Wagon: 3
3-Series Gran Turismo: 4
3-Series Coupe: 2
3-Series Convertible: 4
4-Series Coupe: 0
5-Series Sedan: 18
5-Series ActiveHybrid: 1
5-Series Gran Turismo: 1
6-Series Coupe: 0
6-Series Gran Coupe: 4
6-Series Convertible: 0
7-Series Sedan: 2
7-Series ActiveHybrid: 0
X1: 6
X3: 12
X5: 11
X6: 2
Z4 Roadster: 0
M3 Convertible: 0
M5 Sedan: 0
M6 Coupe: 1
M6 Gran Coupe: 0
M6 Convertible: 1
X5 M: 1
X6 M: 0

The only thing that is not surprising is that 3- and 5-Series sedans are very popular. What I am shocked about is that there are no Z4s on the lot and only three Ms (an M6 coupe, an M6 convertible, and an X5 M). Plus, what the heck are 1-Series 3- and 5-doors?! This hyper-fragmented inventory is just bonkers!!!

Maybe I'll look at the inventories of the other local BMW dealers this weekend.

Edit: I took out the 1-Series 3- and 5-doors as well as the M3 coupe and the 5-Series wagon, which are not available here.

3 comments:

mtc said...

1-Series 3-door:

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicles/1series/3door/2012/showroom/

1-Series 5-door:

http://www.bmw.com/com/en/newvehicles/1series/5door/2011/showroom/index.html

Neither is sold in the USA.

(USA! USA!)

Maxichamp said...

@mtc: You're right. I looked up BMW AG. That's what happens when you blog before coffee in the morning.

I will revise and add data from other local dealers this weekend.

Anonymous said...

And you just wait for the upcoming i3, i8 and who know what else!