BMW, Rolls-Royce & MINI
Peter Miles, Executive Vice President, Sales and Operations, BMW of North America talked to me about BMW Group operations.
Only two dealers went out of business in 2008. BMW dealers are doing so well for a couple of reasons:
1. Certified pre-owned cars (CPO), which was up over 10 percent in 2008 (104,000 units) and up already 18 percent in 2009.
2. BMW provides free maintenance on their cars, so 97 percent of all BMW owners go back to a BMW dealership to get their car serviced by BMW. BMW is the only brand that offers that level of comprehensive service -free maintenance for the first 4 years or 50,000 miles.
How many vehicles did the BMW group sell in 2008? BMW Group includes Rolls-Royce, BMW, and MINI.
The BMWs that are made in the USA are made in South Carolina, in a non-unionized plant. Miles subtly points out that BMWs are made in the USA, not North America, meaning Canada or Mexico. This helps the USA trade because sixty percent of the cars made by BMW in the USA are sold outside the USA. BMW would not be helping the USA trade deficit if they built these cars in Mexico or Canada.
