BMW Oz refocuses on passenger cars

BMW Australia MD Marc Werner has launched a stout 'offence' after a dismal year for sales in 2017.

Werner, speaking at the launch of the X2 SUV last week, expressed the view that 2018 and 2019 will be "pivotal" years for the brand in Australia, "in terms of new product". But those new products won't be SUVs alone, contrary to remarks made by Werner just a couple of weeks earlier.

"We've been calling 2018 the year of the 'X' vehicle," Werner said, referring to BMW's SUV range. "But then we thought: 'no, it's probably the year of BMW i'…"

He made the observation that BMW has plenty of SUV product recently arrived or coming soon, and cited the X3, which arrived in December, the X2, the X4 that's due shortly, plus the large X7 – a competitor for the Mercedes-Benz GLS – which will go into production at the company's Spartanburg plant in North Carolina early next year. But the i3 S has also just been launched, there's an i8 Spyder on the way, along with an LCI (Lifecycle Impulse) update for the i8 range.

He continued, mentioning conventional passenger-car models that will fill out BMW's dance card during the course of 2018, cars like the new M5 and M4 GTS. The 6 Series GT, 8 Series, Z4 are also on the way. In addition to those, there are other new models that Werner "can't talk about yet."

Those are likely to include the new-generation 3 Series and a 2 Series Gran Coupe.

Werner describes 2018 as "a sensational year, with something new just every other month".

If the year pans out as Werner anticipates, it will be in marked contrast with 2017, during which BMW's local sales slipped by 4000 units, year on year. BMW wasn't the only luxury/prestige brand to lose ground in 2017, but Audi's sales decline was 'just' 2000 units.

Werner says that 2017 was "a period of consolidation", but "the dealers are certainly happy", he claims, and the brand is committed to long-term and sustainable growth, having jointly invested (with the dealers themselves) $400 million in the local dealer network. He also explained that while sales growth in 2017 went backwards, the trend since 2011 has remained on the upward path – 34 per cent on average with 2017 sales included, or 52 per cent up to the end of 2016.