PSA: I counted 10 new M3s on the lot at the BMW dealer here in S.A. this morning.
10-09-2008, 07:37 AM
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PSA: I counted 10 new M3s on the lot at the BMW dealer here in S.A. this morning.
6 convertibles, 3 coupes, 1 sedan....and it's a very small dealership. when I was shopping for a new car back in 2005, they had 1 on the lot.
750i is in for service....they gave me a '08 528i for a loaner, not too bad.
750i is in for service....they gave me a '08 528i for a loaner, not too bad.
10-09-2008, 09:26 AM
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BMW actually temporarily shutdown production for many models due to the economy
<a href="http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/235777,opel-bmw-call-temporary-halt-to-production.html">http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/235777,opel-bmw-call-temporary-halt-to-production.html</a>
This is unusual because the E9x M3 is actually enjoying the best sales ever for the M3 model... significantly more during its first few months than when the E36 or E46 versions on their first few months. It's been a worldwide hit despite more competition in its segment and newcomers like the IS-F, etc.
If the US isn't buying it, looks like other countries certainly are.
But actually, it took a year before I saw another RS4 in the wild after I got mine in June 2006, and I live in big and busy city. On the other hand, I've already seen quite a handful of new E9x M3 coupes, sedans, and convertibles during the first few months after launch. They're relatively common, and unfortunately more so in the alpine white color that I chose. It seems that BMW really turned up production for its launch compared to past generations of the M3.
This is unusual because the E9x M3 is actually enjoying the best sales ever for the M3 model... significantly more during its first few months than when the E36 or E46 versions on their first few months. It's been a worldwide hit despite more competition in its segment and newcomers like the IS-F, etc.
If the US isn't buying it, looks like other countries certainly are.
But actually, it took a year before I saw another RS4 in the wild after I got mine in June 2006, and I live in big and busy city. On the other hand, I've already seen quite a handful of new E9x M3 coupes, sedans, and convertibles during the first few months after launch. They're relatively common, and unfortunately more so in the alpine white color that I chose. It seems that BMW really turned up production for its launch compared to past generations of the M3.
10-09-2008, 10:06 AM
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It is a combination of weaker economy, but also more vehicles released
I live in an area (NY metro) where you can and do see any car that is out there. Yet RS4s are very rare - one of the reason I opted for it. Despite the M3 being new, you see them now everywhere, literally seems every Tom Dick and Harry has gotten one free for Christmas. The RS4's lifetime import figure is 2000-ish, which is less than the annual production of M3s alone!
Also, with Fall here, seasonality further adds to mounting inventories.
BTW, I am having almost daily calls from the local Porsche dealer who 'insists' I test trive the 2009 997 S PDK. Prior years, it would have taken a lot of maneuvering to test drive a P-car in its first month of release! So everyone is hurting. And with this local market here being so heavily domintated by financial industry, it will get worse. As they say, when Wall Street gets a cold, Manhattan gets pneumonia ;-o)
Also, with Fall here, seasonality further adds to mounting inventories.
BTW, I am having almost daily calls from the local Porsche dealer who 'insists' I test trive the 2009 997 S PDK. Prior years, it would have taken a lot of maneuvering to test drive a P-car in its first month of release! So everyone is hurting. And with this local market here being so heavily domintated by financial industry, it will get worse. As they say, when Wall Street gets a cold, Manhattan gets pneumonia ;-o)
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10-09-2008, 10:25 AM
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Indeed, so execs here can continue to do AIG-style retreats at taxpayers expense. Read this:
AIG, Castigated for Resort Event, Plans Another One Next Week
Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- American International Group Inc., castigated by lawmakers for hosting a $440,000 conference days after an $85 billion federal bailout, plans to hold another gathering for brokers next week.
The event, at the Ritz-Carlton in California's Half Moon Bay, aims to ``motivate and educate'' about 150 independent agents who sell AIG coverage to high-end clients, said spokesman Nicholas Ashooh. ``These sorts of sales meetings are an essential function,'' he said. ``We have them around the world all the time.''
The White House, Congress and Barack Obama have lashed out at AIG for ``wining and dining'' executives at a weeklong conference last month at the St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, California. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino today called ``despicable'' expenses that included $23,000 for spa services, according to Representative Henry Waxman, chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
President George W. Bush didn't push for the bailout ``to help top executives go to a spa,'' Perino said today at the daily White House briefing.
AIG Chief Executive Officer Edward Liddy, who replaced former CEO Robert Willumstad as a condition of the federal loan, today told Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that the company intends to reevaluate expenses.
`$400,000 Junket'
``We understand that our company is now facing very different challenges,'' Liddy wrote in a letter to Paulson. ``We owe our employees and the American public new standards and approaches.''
Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, said during last night's debate with Republican candidate John McCain that AIG should repay the U.S. Treasury for the costs of the event.
``AIG, a company that got a bailout, just a week after they got help, went on a $400,000 junket,'' Obama said. ``And I tell you what: the Treasury should demand that money back and those executives should be fired.''
In his letter to Paulson, Liddy said the gathering was planned ``many months'' before the Federal Reserve's loan to AIG. Next week's meeting was also planned before the loan, spokesman Ashooh said.
``This sort of gathering has been standard practice in our industry for many years,'' Liddy wrote. ``Let me assure you that we are reevaluating the costs of all aspects of our operations in light of the new circumstances in which we are all operating.''
About 50 AIG employees will also attend the Half Moon Bay meeting. Ashooh said he didn't know the cost of the event or how long it would last. This meeting has more of an educational component than the St. Regis meeting, he said.
Receipts provided by Waxman for the earlier conference at the St. Regis were dated Sept. 22 through Sept. 30. AIG agreed to the $85 billion loan from the government on Sept. 16, ceding a 79.9 percent ownership interest to the U.S. government.
Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) -- American International Group Inc., castigated by lawmakers for hosting a $440,000 conference days after an $85 billion federal bailout, plans to hold another gathering for brokers next week.
The event, at the Ritz-Carlton in California's Half Moon Bay, aims to ``motivate and educate'' about 150 independent agents who sell AIG coverage to high-end clients, said spokesman Nicholas Ashooh. ``These sorts of sales meetings are an essential function,'' he said. ``We have them around the world all the time.''
The White House, Congress and Barack Obama have lashed out at AIG for ``wining and dining'' executives at a weeklong conference last month at the St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, California. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino today called ``despicable'' expenses that included $23,000 for spa services, according to Representative Henry Waxman, chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
President George W. Bush didn't push for the bailout ``to help top executives go to a spa,'' Perino said today at the daily White House briefing.
AIG Chief Executive Officer Edward Liddy, who replaced former CEO Robert Willumstad as a condition of the federal loan, today told Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson that the company intends to reevaluate expenses.
`$400,000 Junket'
``We understand that our company is now facing very different challenges,'' Liddy wrote in a letter to Paulson. ``We owe our employees and the American public new standards and approaches.''
Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, said during last night's debate with Republican candidate John McCain that AIG should repay the U.S. Treasury for the costs of the event.
``AIG, a company that got a bailout, just a week after they got help, went on a $400,000 junket,'' Obama said. ``And I tell you what: the Treasury should demand that money back and those executives should be fired.''
In his letter to Paulson, Liddy said the gathering was planned ``many months'' before the Federal Reserve's loan to AIG. Next week's meeting was also planned before the loan, spokesman Ashooh said.
``This sort of gathering has been standard practice in our industry for many years,'' Liddy wrote. ``Let me assure you that we are reevaluating the costs of all aspects of our operations in light of the new circumstances in which we are all operating.''
About 50 AIG employees will also attend the Half Moon Bay meeting. Ashooh said he didn't know the cost of the event or how long it would last. This meeting has more of an educational component than the St. Regis meeting, he said.
Receipts provided by Waxman for the earlier conference at the St. Regis were dated Sept. 22 through Sept. 30. AIG agreed to the $85 billion loan from the government on Sept. 16, ceding a 79.9 percent ownership interest to the U.S. government.