Hot! The 2012 U.S. Sales Battle: Mercedes vs BMW

[K-A]

Look at this:

I think it's hideous but I was actually talking about the 5 GT which may or may not just be even more hideous.

 

[LaArtist]

^I agree

 

[Merc1]

The only problem is that BMW resorted to some underhanded tactics in 2011 to win and this year BMW had the highest incentives going for December. It isn't just Mercedes by a long shot.

M

 

[LaArtist]

^What were those underhand tactics?

 

[K-A]

^I wish my dealer slashed 25% off cars, and with your ridiculously low prices on cars to begin with , and the piss poor Usd.

Hell it might be worth to buy E classes ship them over, and sell them here.

Wanna start a business? we can put the profits towards buying BMWs?

Until ofcourse they realise that the sales are slowing, and start to give discounts, and include M packages for free. As most brands do towards the middle and end of a cars life.



PS
Say i want a brand new E350 AMG package with a good amount of options ( not all of course).
What would you be able to get that for?

Well BMW's already starting to do that as they slashed M Sport pricing on the 5er from like $5K to like $3K, which is still a lot more expensive than AMG whoring the AMG kit out for free. It's one of the reasons I got the 5er.... I just see more passion from BMWUSA in how they cater to variety and let us enthusiasts who want to stand out a little spend more. A 5er with M Sport is still a head turning sight since you don't see much, an E with AMG is every single E on the road. But yeah BMW's already showing signs of cracking, sadly. Hopefully it doesn't go any further.

I'm down to start that business, I buy and sell enough cars as is.

In 2010 when the W212 was a new body I negotiated a P2/Pano E350 which stickered at $57K to $53K I believe and back then (new body year) it was a great deal.

A year later M-B offered to buy that car from me (buy out the Lease) and got me into a $58K P2 E350 for $48K. That is not a misprint, and it gives you an idea. Apparently this holiday Season, people were seeing even better deals.

I heard that people were getting E350's with low-basic options for $480 including tax and under $1K drive off. It's INSANE. Though, that's just holiday pricing. Otherwise, anything under $600 including tax with minimal drive off and you've got an awesome deal on an E350.

 

[Merc1]

^What were those underhand tactics?

There was an article about them claiming loaner cars or slight used cars as new sales in 2011.

M

 

[LaArtist]

48K? well that car costs around 70K usd new here.

So one could easily sell it for 60.

Money could be made...iiiifff it wasent for the damn import taxes you would have to pay ..hah

 

[LaArtist]

There was an article about them claiming loaner cars or slight used cars as new sales in 2011.

M

read this KA.. as you can see..everyone takes to every measure to get the green numbers.
Now if that is offering discounts or free AMG packages, or outright bullshitting as bmw did..i could not care less.

 

[K-A]

48K? well that car costs around 70K usd new here.

So one could easily sell it for 60.

Money could be made...iiiifff it wasent for the damn import taxes you would have to pay ..hah

Yeah, I think that they get you with all the taxes. Back in the 90's or 80's I think I remember hearing my parents friends importing cars in from Germany and stuff and saving a ton. That's when our USD was actually worth something. Nowadays when I go to EU and show them a USD they run.... FAST. It's practically dirt there. I tried to pay a Cabby with it once in Paris since I had no Euro's on me, and he said that the process and fee's of getting it transferred to Euro was so not worth it it'd be like him actually losing money! LOL.

 

[HighestOfHigh]

BMW 2012 - 281.460 ~ BMW Does it again.
Mercedes - 274,134
Lexus - 244,166
Acura - 156,216
Cadillac - 149,782
Audi - 139,310
Infiniti - 119,877


M

I thought Audi would have done much better than this.

 

[K-A]

Lexus are so ridiculous. They had the luxury car dept in the palm of their hands. As a startup in the luxury field they quickly and swiftly overstepped M-B who had been dominating for practically "hundreds" of years, and then they "fell asleep" (pun intended, if you've ever driven a Lexus) and let the Germans fly right by them again.

Now they're in mess mode not knowing whether to make cars sporty and dynamic or stick to what made them famous in the first place: Geriatric driving attributes.

 

[Merc1]

Well that Tsunami did kill their supply for a few months, but truth be told they were already dropping before disaster struck. You should see the ire from the Lexus fans when you mention this to them. With Mercedes set to introduce a FL E, CLA and new S in the U.S. all this year, Lexus can forget it. I still can't believe they decided to just warm over the current LS. Big mistake, at least short term.


M

 

[mini_cooper4]

A year later M-B offered to buy that car from me (buy out the Lease) and got me into a $58K P2 E350 for $48K. That is not a misprint, and it gives you an idea. Apparently this holiday Season, people were seeing even better deals.

I heard that people were getting E350's with low-basic options for $480 including tax and under $1K drive off. It's INSANE. Though, that's just holiday pricing. Otherwise, anything under $600 including tax with minimal drive off and you've got an awesome deal on an E350.

Cheaper than my 318d E90 with 143PS and just a few options...
But it's no news for me and one of the reasons I'm coming back to US... most probably
For the money I paid to get my 520d F10 I can get TWO and a half E350s with AMG-Pack over there
With the money I paid for my ex VAG car I can buy a nice house in Vegas where houses are damn cheap...
You gotta love America

PS: Discounts of like 6% to 11% from BMW and MB are given only to people like me in here... loyal clients and dealers that have bought MANY cars... damn it's SO different!

 

[Merc1]

1) BMW - 281,460, +13.5 percent (new record)
2) Mercedes-Benz - 274,134, +11.8 percent (new record)
3) Lexus - 244,166, +26.7 percent
4) Acura - 156,216, +26.7 percent
5) Cadillac - 149,782, -2 percent
6) Audi - 139,310, +18.5 percent (new record)
7) Infiniti - 119,877, +21.8
8) Lincoln - 82,150, -4 percent
9) Volvo - 68,117, +1 percent
10) Land Rover - 43,664, +15 percent


http://www.motorauthority.com/news/1081451_bmw-tops-u-s-luxury-auto-sales-in-2012


M

 

[HighestOfHigh]

^Would love to see Infiniti and Lincoln go up on that list.

 

[Merc1]

Lincoln probably won't be around in 3-4 years unless they have some type of sales breakthrough. They're really irrelevant now.

M

 

[HighestOfHigh]

Lincoln probably won't be around in 3-4 years unless they have some type of sales breakthrough. They're really irrelevant now.

M

Lol...Oh that's just cold. I'm sure it will be around longer, if Ford gets serious. They killed Mercury and sold pretty much everything else. Lincoln is their only option to be taken serious in the luxury market. Hopefully they will stop with all the rebadged Fords and get serious like GM with Cadillac or you might just be right.

 

[K-A]

I can't believe Lincoln is even on the list or selling any cars. I don't think there's a less desirable fleet in the business. Warmed over Fords directed straight at mid-level Golf Club geriatrics in the pandering type of way where most said older Golf Club types wouldn't want to even be associated with anymore, probably.

And I say this on a day that I just bought Ford stock.

 

[///K]

CANADA

1) Mercedes-Benz - 33,116, +6.6%
2) BMW - 31,402, +5.5%
3) Audi - 20,000, +18.6%
4) Acura - 17,154, +12.3%
5) Lexus - 15,101, +13%
6) Infiniti - 7,993, +15.2%
7) Volvo - 5,578, -18.2%
8) Land Rover - 4,268, +32.2%

Mercedes takes the lead in Canada. BMW not too far behind and Audi is on crack.

-desrosiers

 

[Merc1]

The Ford stock is still a good investment though.

M