BMW M-car demand running hot
Aussies are forming long wait lists for the new BMW M2 and first BMW M3 Touring as M3 CS debutsEarly local demand for the 2023 BMW M2 and 2023 BMW M3 Touring is running hot, catching BMW Australia by surprise as wait lists for both models lengthen and the new BMW M3 CS officially debuts.
Speaking to carsales at the launch of the new BMW 7 Series, BMW Australia’s head of product and market planning, Brendan Michel, said: “I think if a customer walked in now on an M3 Touring the very earliest delivery would be probably Q4 [2023] or even Q1 next year. Similar timeframe for M2.”
This frenzy is despite the new M models still being some months away from launch (and the first M3 wagon costing almost $180K), with Aussie customers clamouring to secure what will be two of the final non-electrified models released by BMW’s M brand.
It’s a similar story with gearbox choice in the M2, with a higher proportion of buyers opting to select their own gears.
“This year from what we’re currently seeing you’re looking at about a 30 per cent [manual] take rate,” said Michel. “So slightly higher than the previous generation and that could be around the news… that this could very well be the last manual transmission on offer.”
Manual take-up in the previous generation M2 was around 20 per cent, which was itself a much higher figure than for the M3 and M4, where it’s typically five per cent or less.
Wagons have been a tough sell in recent times – even for BMW Australia, which didn’t homologate the latest five-door 5 Series – but according to product and pricing manager Howard Lam there has been pent-up demand for an M3 Touring for quite some time.
“Customers have been asking for an M3 Touring for years,” he said.
“I’ve been with BMW for 15 years and I remember at least for the last five, six or seven years there has been strong interest from customers who have been screaming for a performance wagon.
“You see it on forums, on blogs and we get it from customer events as well, so it’s good that head office has listened.”
Nevertheless, Australia almost missed out, with Michel revealing that in initial discussions the M3 Touring was destined for left-hand drive markets only.
“I remember when we first got wind of this probably three years ago that they were going to develop the M3 Touring, they got the green light but left-hand drive only and we’re like ‘oh my god that’s most unfortunate’.
“But then 12 months later they reached out to myself, my counterpart in Japan and also the UK and we all put up our hands as naturally you’d expect and we committed to enough volume.
“It’s not just Australia but the whole world. There’s a lot of markets with a high take-up for the M3 Touring. From initial reports it might have been something we could have brought out a little bit earlier in the lifecycle, but there’s some very passionate M people in Munich that did a lot of work behind the scenes to get this off the ground.”
The new BMW M2 and first M3 Touring are scheduled to launch in Australia in late April, so stay tuned for our first full local reviews.
Related: BMW M2 Prototype Review
Related: BMW M2 Walkround Video
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