Did BMW Win the Luxury Sales Crown With Aggressive Fleet Sales?

Topping the sales charts is often a huge priority for automakers, but how far would they go to achieve this goal? According to Bloomberg, BMW aggressively sold cars to its dealerships last year, a strategy that helped it win the luxury sales crown.

In December, BMW shelled out as much as $1,750 for every new model it gave to dealer service fleets. These vehicles were given out as loaners to customers waiting for their BMW models to be serviced. And while other automakers have these services, some experts say BMW has pushed its loaner program particularly far to help meet sales goals. And without those extra sales, BMW may not have scored the win.

BMW narrowly edged out Lexus to remain the top-selling luxury carmaker in the U.S. last year. It sold just 1,400 more vehicles than Lexus and almost 3,000 more cars than Mercedes-Benz, according to Autodata. Of course, BMW’s strategy with loaner vehicles comes with other perks. Because dealers refresh their loaner fleets frequently, they have the chance to show off their most up-to-date products. According to BMW spokesman Kenn Sparks, the loaner program is “an important part of BMW’s customer-satisfaction plan.”

After a while, the vehicles go out of service and sell at a heavy discount. As another tactic that could have helped BMW achieve its sales goals, the automaker spent more on consumer incentives than rival companies in December. BMW slashed prices by an average of $5,169 per vehicle on discounted lease deals and rebates, which is $1,400 more than Lexus and $600 more than Mercedes-Benz provided.

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Source: Bloomberg

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