the "halo effect". Its not just a theory its reality.

[chicagobimmerboy]

OK so we have established that the CSL is dead, as is the M1 super car or whatever it was going to be called.

What BMW dont seem to remember is that these cars are not going to sell well, its just the nature of the beast. So instead of using them as a cash cow, use there halo effect on buyers. What do I mean? well say your just an average buyer, not an enthusiast, you go into a show room and next to the X5 or 5 series you want to buy is an M1 or CSL, you think to your self "hmmm, if BMW made that then the car I want must be plenty good". Therefore you increase sales of all the other models.

That's BMW's first mistake, not using the halo effect, second mistake: high expectations. New generation M cars, Z4M, M5-6, M3 all are suffering in sales, largley due to a poor economy and other small but wieghted factors.

I honestly think BMW ought to read this thread and take it to heart.
Here's what you need to do:

1. Lower your sales outlook for the M cars and produce only a handful for each market every year. You'll keep demand up, your going to increase resail value, you'll keep them from just collecting at dealers.
2. Produce some limited edition, expesive, exclusive cars. Remember "halo effect" I am not saying you need to build the next Mclaren F1 but just somthing to inject buyer excitment into this dreary market.
3. Dont produce non traditional M cars i.e. X5M, X6M.... unless you want to tarnish the M badge and scare enthusiast customers away. At the very least, dont throw an M badge on it.

What do you all think about this plan? sensible? plausable?

[swamp2]

I guess I think little of your little "plan".

1. I really do not think the CSL is dead. By the time it would be possible the economy would likely better support the car.

2. Sorry to be a bit harsh, but I don't think you can outsmart BMW marketing. They have had a tremendous long term sucess in growing the brand.

3. Their M cars still very much provide a halo effect.

[chicagobimmerboy]

Originally Posted by swamp2

I guess I think little of your little "plan".

1. I really do not think the CSL is dead. By the time it would be possible the economy would likely better support the car.

2. Sorry to be a bit harsh, but I don't think you can outsmart BMW marketing. They have had a tremendous long term sucess in growing the brand.

3. Their M cars still very much provide a halo effect.

Well I guess that's possible.
I wouldnt even try to outsmart a company like BMW. I just know what works and what doesnt.

I dont want to see BMW shoot themselves in both feet and have for crawl out of a situation they created. BMW may never have had to deal wiht this but other firms have.

[e46e92love]

Originally Posted by swamp2

I guess I think little of your little "plan".

1. I really do not think the CSL is dead. By the time it would be possible the economy would likely better support the car.

2. Sorry to be a bit harsh, but I don't think you can outsmart BMW marketing. They have had a tremendous long term sucess in growing the brand.

3. Their M cars still very much provide a halo effect.

Disagree swamp, disagree. I think BMW marketing used to be good, now the company is riding high on previous success. But as they dilute the //M brand and continue to listen to the bean counters on EVERYTHING, and only them (cutting R&D and slapping //M badge on a fricking SUV, sorry, SAV) I think the luster will begin to wear off similar to what happened to Merc when they merged with Chrysler.

Perception and image can be VERY powerful.....

[TLud]

Originally Posted by swamp2

I guess I think little of your little "plan".

1. I really do not think the CSL is dead. By the time it would be possible the economy would likely better support the car.

2. Sorry to be a bit harsh, but I don't think you can outsmart BMW marketing. They have had a tremendous long term sucess in growing the brand.

3. Their M cars still very much provide a halo effect.

BMW is not infallible.

[04RC51]

Originally Posted by chicagobimmerboy

I honestly think BMW ought to read this thread and take it to heart.
Here's what you need to do:

1. Lower your sales outlook for the M cars and produce only a handful for each market every year. You'll keep demand up, your going to increase resail value, you'll keep them from just collecting at dealers.
2. Produce some limited edition, expesive, exclusive cars. Remember "halo effect" I am not saying you need to build the next Mclaren F1 but just somthing to inject buyer excitment into this dreary market.
3. Dont produce non traditional M cars i.e. X5M, X6M.... unless you want to tarnish the M badge and scare enthusiast customers away. At the very least, dont throw an M badge on it.

Don't all these spell financial ruin for BMW? Spend a ton of money on R&D for a supercar and then produce a few cars to net realize a loss? Make a "handful" of cars and don't try to set sales outlooks high? Are you a bankruptcy lawyer looking for work?

I'm an M owner and not a lifetime BMW enthusiast so I tend to look at things differently.

[positiveions]

I have a feeling that this thing is cover-up. I have a feeling that BMW is hiding something up their sleeves.

[ArtPE]

Originally Posted by chicagobimmerboy

Well I guess that's possible.
I wouldnt even try to outsmart a company like BMW. I just know what works and what doesnt.

I dont want to see BMW shoot themselves in both feet and have for crawl out of a situation they created. BMW may never have had to deal wiht this but other firms have.

BMW was bombed into ashes in WWII, and crawled from rubble...
nobody in the US knew what a 'BMW' was in 1970
it was a quirky little car like a Saab or Volvo...what happened to them vs BMW?

they have doubled sales since 2000 iirc...

the issue now is not BMW's business philospophy...it's the state of the economy...

[Dascamel]

Conspiracy!!

[Salespunk]

Although they are over producing the M3 right now, you do not want them to produce only a handful of cars for the US market. If they did you would end up with situations like the GTR or GT3RS which are not good for regular car buyers. Scarcity equals price premiums to whatever the market will bear. Anyone want a $90K M3?

[JEllis]

What would you call the M6 or even the M5 for that matter. Halo cars for the average 5 series buyer...how about the M3....

Jason

[Sticky]

Originally Posted by ArtPE

BMW was bombed into ashes in WWII, and crawled from rubble...
nobody in the US knew what a 'BMW' was in 1970
it was a quirky little car like a Saab or Volvo...what happened to them vs BMW?

they have doubled sales since 2000 iirc...

the issue now is not BMW's business philospophy...it's the state of the economy...

A good post indeed.

BMW would love nothing more than to build some low production high performance cars, M1 CSL, but unfortunately the times are making it tough. They have to make the best business decisions first. A drive in an M3 is all that is necessary to know they still get it, and how.

[swamp2]

Originally Posted by Sticky

A drive in an M3 is all that is necessary to know they still get it, and how.

+1.

[Titanium]

BMW Marketing is making the right decision. Well, "right" is subjective so maybe I should say "profitable" decision.

Through the M division they've created an image and reputation for high performance vehicles. Now that the economy is currently in a slump, they're playing their cards so they can increase their market share. The enthusiast market has and always will be marginally smaller than the general car buying populace. It's not profitable at this time and point to introduce a supercar that will stimulate buyers when the economy is suffering.

Thus, they've decided the best course of action is to increase market share to people who enjoy comfort, practicality, and high-performance. They're also filling in the hole they've left in the high-performance SUV/SAV market (ex. Porsche Cayenne S/turbo). I see a whole lot of those so BMW probably wants a piece of that action.

[GnokGnik]

BMW suffers Big Company Syndrome. The ideas you put forth would be easier implemented if there weren't so many shareholders to appease.

[Reincarnated]

Mr. Doom & Gloom at it again. Where do you come up with this stuff??

[synclastica_86]

We should look at things differently, not as //M enthuisits but as regular car buyers. I know, as //M owners, the thought of an //M SUV (or if you insist, SAV), might be scary. It just takes away from the focus and purity of //M cars. But what will the ordinady car buyer think? What if the guy in the office next door is driving a Cayenne GTS? Will getting the X5 4.8i cut it? The number of SUVs which claims to be sporty is growing fast, and many of them have specs that bests the X5 and 6 from BMW. Merc made a ML63; Land Rover has the Supercharged Range Rover. As reluctant as they are, BMW has no choice but to slap the //M badge on their SAVs to save their ass. And if R & D fundings has to go into SAVs, there is nothing they can do for a CSL. Money cows are always more attractive to the board than halo cars.

[e46e92love]

Originally Posted by Sticky

A good post indeed.

BMW would love nothing more than to build some low production high performance cars, M1 CSL, but unfortunately the times are making it tough. They have to make the best business decisions first. A drive in an M3 is all that is necessary to know they still get it, and how.

I would agree with that, especially the last sentence. Just can't figure out some other decisions. Why not make a jazzed up high performance SAV without having to slap the //M badge on the back? Would love to know what the engineers at //M really think about tuning a SAV, whether they would vote to do it if they had the say and the power....even if they would say yes I would love to hear the thinking behind it.

[e46e92love]

Originally Posted by GnokGnik

BMW suffers Big Company Syndrome. The ideas you put forth would be easier implemented if there weren't so many shareholders to appease.

From someone from the Financial industry you have no idea how right you are and how many companies suffer from going public because shareholders are retarded, all they care about is their share value today and week from now, regardless of whether the decisions needed to be made to make those shares up will put the company out of business later. Seen it time and time again great CEOs having to make bad decisions.......

[e46e92love]

Originally Posted by synclastica_86

We should look at things differently, not as //M enthuisits but as regular car buyers. I know, as //M owners, the thought of an //M SUV (or if you insist, SAV), might be scary. It just takes away from the focus and purity of //M cars. But what will the ordinady car buyer think? What if the guy in the office next door is driving a Cayenne GTS? Will getting the X5 4.8i cut it? The number of SUVs which claims to be sporty is growing fast, and many of them have specs that bests the X5 and 6 from BMW. Merc made a ML63; Land Rover has the Supercharged Range Rover. As reluctant as they are, BMW has no choice but to slap the //M badge on their SAVs to save their ass. And if R & D fundings has to go into SAVs, there is nothing they can do for a CSL. Money cows are always more attractive to the board than halo cars.

BTW, the 4.8is is faster and handles better than the supercharged Range Rover Sport, just thought I would mention it......

[Doc]

I have a feeling that BMW are going to try to maximise profits by offering an extra cost (hopefully retro fit) optional performance pack to all M3 owners(intake, exhaust, brakes,lighter wheels, remap) - maximise their profits Porsche style, keep warrantees intact, give extra performance to everyone in all markets. Everyone benefits - not just a handful of fat wallet enthusiasts who would cough up for a 1000 or so csls which they would most likely sell at a loss in this market.
If you really think about it, the majority of us would rather have 50-60 bhp more with better brakes rather than lose 200 pounds in car weight or am I the only 1?

[dcaero]

Any news on the 135 tii?

That's looking up for BMW if you ask me...