As bad as the economy in the United States is these days, it’s nowhere near as bad as the economy in Europe. Automakers have slashed European sales forecasts, and even China, once seen as the land of unlimited opportunity, seems to be cooling to luxury car purchases.
That leaves the United States as the last best hope for BMW to pull out a halfway decent year in 2012. To that end, Automotive News (subscription required) tells us that BMW is switching “tens of thousands” of models once destined for European or Asian markets to U.S. dealers.
While Europe is looking at its largest single-year new car sales decline in nearly two decades, BMWs sales globally remain strong. Through September, BMW’s sales are up by 8.6-percent over last year, though some of that reflects strong early-year demand in China. Unless something dramatic happens in the next sixty days, BMW will likely finish 2012 with higher sales than 2011.
That begs the question, “what about 2013?” No one expects the European economy to recover overnight, and there are no signs that Chinese consumers will return to the conspicuous consumption days of 2010 and 2011. If the U.S. economy takes a turn for the worse, sales could drop here as well.
If that’s the dark cloud, here’s the silver lining: if U.S. BMW dealers have more inventory than the market wants, the company could turn to discounts and incentives to move product.
Kurt Ernst has been passionate about automobiles and driving nearly his entire life. His early years were shaped working in the family service station, though his real passion was auto racing. After graduating from the University of Colorado, Kurt spent a year club racing with the Sports Car Club of America, before focusing on a business career in marketing and project management. Later, his passion for writing and the automotive hobby found him freelancing for a variety of automotive news sites, including Automotive Addicts and Motor Authority, where his work was syndicated and appeared in several national publications. Recognized as an expert in the automotive field, Kurt joined Hemmings Motor News as an Associate Editor in 2013, and in the years since has progressed to Editor, Hemmings Daily; Managing Editor for Hemmings Motor News, Hemmings Classic Car, Hemmings Muscle Machines, and the Hemmings Daily; and now, Managing Editor, Hemmings Auctions. Kurt was instrumental in organizing the Hemmings Motor News Concours d’Elegance from 2013-2019, and has served as a judge at this event and The Vintage Racing Stable Concours d’Elegance. A Skip Barber Racing School graduate and prolific writer, Ernst is also skilled in copyediting, project management, brand development, and public relations.
